Collaborative Discussion for Daisy

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Build some ideas with your peers about what support may be helpful for Daisy and her family which you can re-visit and add to as you work your way through the remainder of the tasks. 

[Lindsey Ramus]

I think Daisy and her family need support. Daisy might need help to attend school or receive so schooling at home to retain as much normality as possible. Her siblings will need help to understand what is happening to Daisy and to understand their own feelings and how they can support Daisy. There can be a big financial burden on families if one parent has to give up work, Daisy’s parents will need emotional support and possibly support to care for the other children too.

[Christina Pui Yu Ward]

Personally, I think it’s really difficult to support any family with an ill child, especially a child with a grade 3 cancer. There’a not really any way to reassure the family when they know their child is expected to die before they do. However, I do think it’s vital that the child be kept pain free and as happy and comfortable as possible. Children have quite strong characters and there are many that are in and out of hospital throughout their life; they get used to it. But like Lindsey says, the whole family will need support to normalise as much of their lives as possible so they don’t miss out on what ‘normal’ families do.

The parents will need support to manage any symptoms Daisy goes through, especially as the tumour spreads and affects other areas of her body. There is a high chance that one parents will quite their jobs to ensure Daisy to well cared for and that has its own burdens as well. Macmillan nurses would probably be very useful in this situation as they would know what help the family needs.

[Paulina Ackah]

It is also important to work with Daisy and her family to find out what will be best for Daisy and the rest of the family. It will help to discuss all the options of counselling, financial, care and educational support available. This will assist the family to make an informed decision to either stop working and take care of Daisy or involve carers to assist in the care of Daisy.

[Paulina Ackah]

Care plan for Daisy :
should include her details and that of her parents.

[Paulina Ackah]

Daisy’s interests.
where she wants to die.
religious needs- involving the chaplaincy
organ donation discussions.
psychological support for Daisy and family

[Hannah Killick]

I agree that it must be difficult for the family to cope with such devastating diagnosis of grade 3 cancer for Daisy.Professionals trained to do counselling to parents of children suffering from terminal illnesses should counsel the family and help them understand more about Daisy condition ,therefore parents will be able to make better informed decisions about Daisy health ,education and future plans.
Daisy talked about missing her friends at school. I think special arrangements can be put in place for her to attend school for several hours when she is feeling better.
Daisy parents can be supported by offering them respite care whereby someone can come over to the house and look after Daisy or even take her to places she enjoys visiting when she is feeling better while her parents take a break. Financial support for the parents should also be provided to easy the burden on them.
Daisy siblings should also be involved in discussions to help them understand about her condition and that Daisy is very poorly.

[Christina Pui Yu Ward]

In terms of a care plan for Daisy, like Paulina says, the parents need to be included, but Daisy’s care needs to be at the centre of that care. Managing expectations will be important as we wouldn’t want to give false hope or false information to the parents, nor would we want to scare Daisy.

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