Sources of vulnerability and ethical challenges in qualitative research with pediatric cancer patients

Abstract

Qualitative research with children and adolescents with cancer has been gaining momentum since the early 2000s. However, a focused discussion of ethical aspects of qualitative research with this patient group has been largely neglected to date. Applying a relational perspective on vulnerability, in this article we discuss ethical challenges in qualitative research with patients in pediatric oncology. These vulnerabilities and ethical complexities should be acknowledged and call for practical measures, but should not be overemphasized in a way that adds barriers to the inclusion of pediatric cancer patients in qualitative research.