2025 “How to prepare the kids?”: Support for Oncology Care Providers of Adults with Incurable Cancer
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 1:00 - 2:00 PM Eastern Time
Session Description: Adult oncology care providers regularly care for parenting patients who are concerned for their children. They feel unsure what to tell them and how to support them, especially when it comes to uncertain outcomes and impending deaths. Often, parents’ inclination is to protect their children by not telling them about the prognosis nor including them in the process. They look to their medical care team to tell them what to do and why. When our organization first launched a “How to Talk to Kids About Cancer” webinar for parents and caregivers, we were surprised and inspired to see the number of health care providers signing up to receive more information and training to support their patients. As a result, we created a clinician specific webinar that focused on talking to children about cancer and treatment and held a collaborative with AOSW resulting in record-breaking attendance.
One of the most common questions we received from this collaborative was how do you talk to children and support them with incurable and terminal cancers including anticipatory death and grief. Research shows that having open, age-appropriate conversations with kids about their parent’s illness helps to decrease their worry, stress, and anxiety. Having open communication as well as preparing children for and including them in the death of a parent helps them with longer-term adjustment and promote their social-emotional wellbeing. In fact, children who are unprepared for their parent’s death may display greater behavioral and emotional problems as they age and develop.
This 2.0 webinar will help teach care providers how to support and guide patients who are facing terminal and incurable cancer while parenting children by applying the same three tips for difficult conversations with children and teens: share information, share expectations, and share feelings. Topics covered will include: how to talk to kids about concepts such as hospice, death, and dying as well as memory and legacy making, how to include children in the process, how to support their emotions and coping along the way, and how to balance and integrate hope with uncertainty.
Speaker:
Kelsey Mora, CCLS, LCPC, Pickles Group
Kelsey Mora is a Certified Child Life Specialist and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with extensive experience providing individual and group services to children impacted by illness and grief. Kelsey guides parents and clinicians on how to best support children and teens as well as creates unique opportunities for youth to make connections, increase coping, and improve communication throughout a cancer experience. Kelsey works in private practice, is the author of The Dot Method, and is the Chief Clinical Officer of Pickles Group: a nonprofit that provides free support and resources to children and teens impacted by their parent's cancer.
Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, participants will be able to:
CE credits: 1.0, which will be available free of charge to AOSW members courtesy of Pickles Group.
Click here to view Continuing Education information.
Category: Clinical/General
Educational Level: Intermediate
One of the most common questions we received from this collaborative was how do you talk to children and support them with incurable and terminal cancers including anticipatory death and grief. Research shows that having open, age-appropriate conversations with kids about their parent’s illness helps to decrease their worry, stress, and anxiety. Having open communication as well as preparing children for and including them in the death of a parent helps them with longer-term adjustment and promote their social-emotional wellbeing. In fact, children who are unprepared for their parent’s death may display greater behavioral and emotional problems as they age and develop.
This 2.0 webinar will help teach care providers how to support and guide patients who are facing terminal and incurable cancer while parenting children by applying the same three tips for difficult conversations with children and teens: share information, share expectations, and share feelings. Topics covered will include: how to talk to kids about concepts such as hospice, death, and dying as well as memory and legacy making, how to include children in the process, how to support their emotions and coping along the way, and how to balance and integrate hope with uncertainty.
Speaker:
Kelsey Mora, CCLS, LCPC, Pickles Group
Kelsey Mora is a Certified Child Life Specialist and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with extensive experience providing individual and group services to children impacted by illness and grief. Kelsey guides parents and clinicians on how to best support children and teens as well as creates unique opportunities for youth to make connections, increase coping, and improve communication throughout a cancer experience. Kelsey works in private practice, is the author of The Dot Method, and is the Chief Clinical Officer of Pickles Group: a nonprofit that provides free support and resources to children and teens impacted by their parent's cancer.
Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, participants will be able to:
- Discuss developmental responses to death and grief by age.
- Utilize tips to guide patients talking with their kids about terminal and incurable cancers as well as anticipatory death and grief.
- Integrate tips and strategies into interactions with parenting patients. Identify how and when to use resources to better support patients.
CE credits: 1.0, which will be available free of charge to AOSW members courtesy of Pickles Group.
Click here to view Continuing Education information.
Category: Clinical/General
Educational Level: Intermediate