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    Telling the Truth to Child Cancer Patients in COVID-19 Times

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    Author
    Gillam, L; Spriggs, M; Delany, C; Conyers, R; McCarthy, M
    Date
    2020-11-09
    Source Title
    Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
    Publisher
    SPRINGER
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Delany, Clare; Gillam, Lynn; Spriggs, Merle; McCarthy, Maria
    Affiliation
    Medical Education
    Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
    Paediatrics (RCH)
    Metadata
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    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    Gillam, L., Spriggs, M., Delany, C., Conyers, R. & McCarthy, M. (2020). Telling the Truth to Child Cancer Patients in COVID-19 Times. JOURNAL OF BIOETHICAL INQUIRY, 17 (4), pp.797-801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-020-10052-5.
    Access Status
    Access this item via the Open Access location
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/254474
    DOI
    10.1007/s11673-020-10052-5
    Open Access URL
    https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7651796?pdf=render
    Abstract
    A notable feature of the COVID-19 pandemic is that children are less at risk of becoming infected or, if infected, less likely to become seriously unwell, so ethical discussions have consequently focused on the adult healthcare setting. However, despite a lower risk of children becoming acutely ill with COVID-19, there nevertheless may be significant and potentially sustained effects of COVID-19 on the physical, psychological, and emotional health and well-being of children. Focusing on the context of children's cancer care, and specifically bone marrow transplant (BMT), we describe some of these effects and then address one specific ethical challenge that arises. That is the question of what and how much to tell children whose cancer treatment has been changed because of COVID-19. Drawing on our previous work on the ethical reasons for telling the truth to younger children (aged 5-12) we link different ethical reasons to the different types of information that could be given to children in this context. We argue that children should be given an explanation of the changes that they will directly experience, including some changes to the process of their actual medical treatment; but not about increased risk associated with these changes, unless they specifically ask for this information.

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    • Minerva Elements Records [45770]
    • Paediatrics (RCH) - Research Publications [1852]
    • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications [4369]
    • Medical Education - Research Publications [497]
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