dr. Anne van Driessche (PhD)
Postdoctoral researcher – End-of-Life Care Research Group, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent & VUB
Principal investigator: Prof. Kim Beernaert (PhD)
Research focus
My overarching research goal is to improve patients’ quality of life by promoting earlier integration of palliative care and strengthening communication between patients with cancer, their families, and healthcare professionals.
My PhD focused on the development and evaluation of a pediatric advance care planning intervention for adolescents aged 10–18 years, their parents, and healthcare professionals, using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Currently, I am involved in several research projects, including:
the validation of tools to identify pediatric palliative care needs and the evaluation of experiences with pediatric palliative care;
initiatives to integrate palliative care into early-phase dose-finding oncology trials;
the evaluation of an intervention supporting oncology patients in initiating conversations about palliative care and guiding physicians in responding to these conversations;
a European Joint Action project aimed, among other objectives, at developing and evaluating quality indicators for the integration of palliative care into standard oncological care.
Key publications
- Multi-center randomized controlled trial on advance care planning for adolescents with cancer and their parents: impact on parent-adolescent communication, European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2025 (PMID: 39904082)
- Influence of pediatric advance care planning on the secondary outcomes of the BOOST pACP trial: determinants of communication between parents and adolescents with cancer, European Journal of Pediatrics, 2025 (PMID: 40358766)
- The BOOST paediatric advance care planning intervention for adolescents with cancer and their parents: development, acceptability and feasibility, BMC Pediatrics, 2022 (PMID: 35428281)
Contact & links
- Lab address: End-of-Life Care Research Group, UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, entrance 42, 6th floor, B-9000 Ghent
- Anne van Driessche is Member of EAPC Reference Group on Children & Young People
- Anne van Driessche is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks