Advance Care Planning in Pediatric Serious Illness: Centering in the Family Experience.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: FACE-TC — : Family-Centered Advance Care Planning for Teens with Cancer As advancements enable us to manage increasingly complex pediatric illness, we must be purposeful in ensuring that we meet patient and family goals. In this issue of Pediatrics , Thompkins et al1 examine the impact of an advanced care planning intervention, the Family-Centered Advance Care Planning for Teens with Cancer (FACE-TC), on families’ assessment of their experiences in caregiving and on familial distress. The FACE-TC is a National Cancer Institute–recognized evidence-based intervention developed to foster goals of care discussions and completion of advanced directives between adolescent patients and their families.1,2 The authors conducted a multicentered randomized control trial with adolescents and young adults with cancer, along with their families, over 3 years. Patient-family dyads received either 3 weekly structured sessions through the FACE-TC intervention or treatment as usual. Participants in the FACE-TC intervention had a statistically significant increase in positive estimations of their caregiving, with no notable difference in distress. The authors hope the study results will provide added assurance that this intervention designed to support families has more … Address correspondence to Khaliah A. Johnson, MD, FAAP, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1001 Johnson Ferry Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30342. E-mail: khaliah.johnson{at}choa.org