Implementation of the Psychosocial Standards for Caregiver Mental Health Within a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program

The objectives of this paper are to describe one program's approach to meeting this standard in oncologic, hematologic, and immunologic populations and outline key ethical, regulatory, and logistical considerations in providing mental health services to caregivers in a pediatric medical setting. A description of the Caregiver Mental Health Program (CMHP) is provided along with a case example to illustrate key considerations, including multiple family members needing care, access to psychiatric services, scope of treatment, confidentiality and privacy, and logistics. Challenges in the development of the CMHP as well as the program ’s benefits are discussed. Implementation of this standard of care will vary across institutions depending on various factors, such as staffing and programmatic resources and institutional culture.
Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research