Free and Appropriate: Navigating School Integration for Pediatric Patients Receiving Palliative Care or Hospice.

1. Participants will self-report the ability to evaluate the complexities and nuances of school (re)integration for pediatric patients receiving palliative care or hospice. 2. By utilizing an interdisciplinary approach which includes families and schools, participants will self-report the ability to facilitate school (re)integration for children receiving palliative care or hospice. Children receiving palliative care/hospice may have a period of clinical improvement in which school (re)entry is feasible, if aligned with patient/family goals. However, (re)integration is challenging to navigate, given patients' unique and complex needs. By using an interdisciplinary model and partnering with families and schools, palliative care/hospice teams can play a pivotal role in supporting school integration for these patients. Given recent medical advances, children receiving palliative care (PC) or hospice may have periods of clinical improvement during which they wish to attend school. However, school (re)entry is challenging given these children's unique and complex needs. Families/schools are often unprepared to facilitate school integration, leaving patients without crucial supports/services, and leaving schools with insufficient knowledge of students' medical needs. VF is a 6yo female with an H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma initially treated with radiation and chemotherapy. When imaging five months post-diagnosis revealed disease progression, chemotherapy was discontinued. Given poor prognosis (median survival ∼1 year) and high symptom burden, VF was admitted to hospice. Several months later, VF's clinical presentation drastically improved, attributed to a decrease in tumor burden/peritumoral inflammation and effective symptom management. She was back to the energetic child she had been, and began voicing the desire to attend school. Wanting to optimize her quality of life, VF's parents enrolled her in public school. Given her current needs, VF requires an Individualized Education Program to ensure necessary supports including a wheelchair-accessible building/classroom, 1:1 paraprofessional, occupational/physical therapies, and safety plan aligned with medical goals of care. Her parents' attempts to secure these supports have been unsuccessful and VF is currently attending school without them. Additionally, school staff lacks information about her health, leaving them unprepared to appropriately handle a medical emergency. VF's hospice team has now partnered with her family to secure needed accommodations, and is serving as a resource for the school to better support VF – medically and psychosocially – in the classroom. Children receiving PC/hospice can have times in which school (re)entry may be feasible, though challenging to navigate. PC/hospice teams are uniquely situated to work with both families and schools to ensure all parties have the knowledge and support needed to facilitate (re)integration. Interdisciplinary Teamwork / Professionalism; Models of Palliative Care Delivery [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]