Improving communication in low-resource children's cancer hospitals
Official title: Strategies to Improve Communication Structure and Quality in Low-resource Childhood Cancer Hospitals
Funded at Washington University · NIH-11195619 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will try a package of team communication tools and practices to help hospital staff better coordinate care for children with cancer in hospitals that have limited resources.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Louis, United States) |
| Project start | September 20, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $385,662 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA287374-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195619 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children with cancer who receive care at the participating low-resource pediatric oncology hospitals are the intended participants and could be included for observation or data collection with consent.
✕Less likely to help
Children treated outside the participating low-resource sites or those who do not experience clinical deterioration during the study period may not directly benefit from the project.
What this research studies
If your child is treated at a participating low-resource pediatric cancer hospital, the research team will work with doctors, nurses, and staff to observe how teams communicate during emergencies and times when a child’s condition worsens. They will use interviews, direct observation, and a previously developed questionnaire to measure communication quality and patterns. Based on what they learn, the team will introduce a bundled set of practical tools and team-based practices aimed at improving how staff share information and make decisions. The project will then measure whether these changes lead to clearer, faster responses for children who deteriorate.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help hospital teams respond more quickly and more effectively when a child with cancer gets worse, potentially reducing preventable deaths and complications.
How similar studies have gone: Team communication interventions have improved safety and responses in higher-resource hospitals, but applying a bundled, multilevel approach in low-resource pediatric oncology settings is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Washington University
Saint Louis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Malone, Sara — Washington University
- Study coordinator: Malone, Sara
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.