Informed decision making for children with high risk brain tumours A prospective study of the exchange and processing of information amongst parents, children and clinicians providing guidance for clinical consultations

The Health Foundation is working with Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner at the UCL Institute of Child Health, to explore decision making for children with high-risk brain tumours.

The project explores a core element of decision making, the exchange and processing of information amongst clinicians, parents and children with high risk brain tumours with the goal of producing guidance that will be of benefit for health care professionals, parents and children in approaching complex decisions for high risk brain tumours and other childhood cancers.

This project will be focused on understanding how all potential participants approach and contribute to decision making, through a close examination and analysis of the actual encounters as they occur throughout the entire course of the child’s illness and treatment, thereby providing a robust empirical foundation for guidance on informed decision making. This analysis will then be utilised in a participant workshop from which a portfolio of guidance materials will be developed.

Contact information

For more information about this project, please contact Laura Harper, Research Manager at the Health Foundation.