Abstract
For almost a decade, a home care project for the dying child with cancer in Minneapolis, Minnesota has been underway with careful concurrent and prospective evaluation. The project in both its phases will long stand as the paradigm of good, justified and compassionate research, combining the best tradition of nursing with the best traditions of inquiry. Precisely because of its excellence in execution and consequent plethora of data, the project does generate reflection and reaction. There were two basic hypotheses tested among several goals (Martinson, 1976, 1977). First, is it feasible to use the home setting for care of children with late stage cancer? Once that was answered in the affirmative, the question turned to the hypothesis that such home care was indeed desirable and, if that were answered affirmatively, the final engineering question was joined whether such home care could be institutionalized through existing health care organizations? There is an interesting full circle quality to that sequence of investigations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Holt, J. The right of children to informed consent. In: J. Van Eys, (Ed.). Research on Children, Medical Imperatives, Ethical Quandaries, and Legal Constraints. Baltimore, University Park Press, 1978, pp 5 – 16.
Martinson, I. M. Home Care for the Dying Child: Professional and Family Perspectives. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1976.
Martinson, I. M. Why don’t we let them die at home? R.N. (1) 58–65, 1977.
Martinson, I. M., Armstrong, G. D., Geis, D. P., Anglim, M. A., Gronseth, E. C., Maclnnish, H., Kersey, J. H., and Nesbit, Jr., M. E. Home care for children dying of cancer. Pediatrics, 62: 106–113, 1978.
Martinson, I. M. Home care for the child with cancer. Proceedings of the National Conference on the Care of the Child with Cancer. American Cancer Society, Inc., 1979, pp. 163–166.
Martinson, I. M. Home care for the child with cancer living until the end. In: J. J. Spinetta and P. Deasy-Spinetta (Eds.). Living with Childhood Cancer. St. Louis, C. V. Mosby Company, 1981, pp. 213–222.
Eys, J. van Humanity and Personhood. Personal Reaction to a World in which Children can Die. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1981.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1984 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Eys, J. (1984). Feasibility and Desirability: Discussion of Drs. Martinson, Nesbit and Kersey’s Paper. In: Christ, A.E., Flomenhaft, K. (eds) Childhood Cancer. The Downstate Series of Research in Psychiatry and Psychology, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7266-0_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7266-0_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7268-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-7266-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive