Kendra Parris, PhD

Understanding the unique needs of specific caregiver and patient populations is essential to the provision of comprehensive care to children facing catastrophic disease. 

My clinical research examines the experience of caregivers and patients receiving bone marrow transplantation. Understanding the coping and wellbeing of this caregiver and patient population allows for the development of specific, novel service models that can address their unique psychological needs. Our retrospective research assessed the long-term benefits of parental–stem cell donation when a child survives their illness but also observed the long-term detrimental impact on caregivers if a parental–stem cell donation does not result in survival. Based on these findings, my focus is on developing novel service models and future prospective studies to examine these dynamics further.

Beyond my clinical research, I focus on how to successfully implement clinical standards. With the release of the Standards for the Psychosocial Care of Children with Cancer and their Families, I led a multidisciplinary group at St. Jude that implemented a tiered model of caregiver support and assisted with the development of several new caregiver support systems. This model and the resulting programs are now being implemented across other institutions, expanding the impact of our clinical approach and clinical research findings to bring innovative care models to children with catastrophic disease beyond St. Jude.