Building a psychosocial and spiritual care service for children with cancer and their families

Background:  Comprehensive, coordinated psychosocial, supportive and spiritual care is an essential component of the holistic care of childhood cancer sufferers and their families. Aim:  The authors detail the development and value of a multidisciplinary psychosocial care team as an essential adjunct to care of childhood cancer sufferers. Methods:  A historic preamble details a period during which psychosocial and supportive care was the sole province of the paediatric oncologists and social workers and describes that the process of creating a multidisciplinary psychosocial and spiritual care team has enhanced medical care. Results:  Each member of the psychosocial group describes their care philosophy and their role in the clinical setting. We also describe the critical role of the meeting as a teaching vehicle for oncology fellows. Conclusion:  This reproducible partnership between public and private sector practitioners, designed in a resource-constrained setting, affords a diverse and highly skilled group of professionals the opportunity to meet the medical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients and families as they transition through the care journey.