Ochyra, Łukasz, Łopuszyńska, Anna, Pawlicki, Mateusz, Karwat, Irena.Communication in pediatric oncology. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(4):315-320.eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.04.025 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/40132 https://zenodo.org/record/7117601 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 1, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 1 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe:Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2022; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 23.03.2022. Revised: 06.04.2022. Accepted: 30.04.2022. Communication in pediatric oncology Anna Łopuszyńska (1), Łukasz Ochyra (1), Mateusz Pawlicki (1), Irena Dorota Karwat (2) Student Scientific Association at Department of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology Medical University of Lublin, ul. Radziwiłłowska 11, Lublin 20-080, Poland Medical Institute, State University of Jan Grodek in Sanok, ul Mickiewicza 21, Sanok 38-500, Poland Corresponding author: Anna Łopuszyńska, lopuszynskaania@gmail.com ORCID ID: Anna Łopuszyńska https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5133-4180, lopuszynskaania@gmail.com Łukasz Ochyra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8586-3619, lukaszochyra98@gmail.com Mateusz Pawlicki https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8318-6573, pawlak32@gmail.com Irena Dorota Karwathttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9132-6062,irbisiza10@wp.pl Abstract: Introduction: Neoplasms are the second most frequent cause of death in the pediatric population. In Poland, approximately 1100-1200 new cases of malignant neoplasms are diagnosed annually. Communication is an extremely important factor in pediatric oncology care. Hence, more and more research on its functions, significance, but also barriers and limitations is being developed. Material, methods, purpose: The literature published in the PubMed scientific database was searched using the following keywords: communication, pediatrics, oncology in 2016-2022. The aim of this review is to show the barriers, functions, and the importance of communication in pediatric oncology for the therapeutic process. Results: Communication in pediatric oncology was shown to perform the following functions: building relationships, exchanging information, enabling the family to self-manage, making decisions, managing uncertainty, responding to emotions, providing validation, and supporting hope. The last two functions have not been found previously in adult oncology. It was also noted that high-quality communication is associated with parental peace, increased recognition and confidence in healthcare professionals. Parents who receive understandable prognostic information have found less regret, as well as a desire to maximize time spent together with their child. Moreover, children who participated in the discussions about the disease had less anxiety and greater acceptance of their disease. Research shows communication barriers on many levels, such as: lack of comfort in difficult topics, time pressure, or the lack of a common mental model of the team and excessive demands. However, knowing these limitations is crucial to improving and overcoming these barriers. Conclusions: Communication in pediatric oncology plays many fundamental roles and constitutes an important aspect of the therapeutic process. Accordingly, it is important to emphasize the development and improvement of healthcare professionals' communication skills. Doctors can use knowledge of communication functions to better understand and fulfill parents' communication needs. Future work should focus on measuring whether clinical teams are fulfilling these functions and developing communication interventions to address these functions. Keywords: communication, paediatrics, oncology