Home chemotherapy for children with cancer: perspectives from health care professionals

The goal of this study was to determine the perspectives of healthcare professionals (HPs) from community and hospital settings involved in a paediatric home chemotherapy programme. Using a prospective descriptive study design, HPs including paediatricians, community nurses, hospital clinic nurses, administrators and pharmacists were interviewed using a moderately structured open-ended approach. Through inductive content analysis, data were categorised under three themes reflecting HPs' perspectives on the programme: (1) perceived family benefits, (2) human resources and service delivery considerations and (3) impact on the role of the HP. All HPs reported that home chemotherapy helped reduce both disruption to family life and psychological stress. Community-based HPs reported increased job satisfaction, increased workload and increased frustration related to scheduling challenges. Hospital-based HPs reported decreased patient interaction and discrepancies in workload changes. Both groups emphasised the need for consistency in care and for specific chemotherapy training. Service delivery issues included the need for more clarity in the programme process, improved eligibility criteria, a focus on community laboratory coordination and development of centralised communications.