Resilience in pediatric oncology

Abstract

The focus on precision health in healthcare fits well with the recent shift from a traditional illness-focused model to a positive health approach. Precision health seeks to tailor treatment and supportive care to characteristics of individual patients in order to attain the best clinical outcome for that person. In order to achieve increasingly positive outcomes, it is helpful to understand why some patients and families thrive despite adversity, while others struggle. Therefore, resilience is receiving increased attention in research and clinical care. The science and understanding of resilience specifically in pediatric oncology is emerging with research efforts aimed at understanding and intervening with patients and families to promote health in the face of illness. Challenges remain, including the need for a single, agreed upon definition of resilience among healthcare professionals.