Background Working within the landscape of death and dying, professionals in palliative and hospice care provide insight into the nature of mortality that may be of benefit to individuals facing the end of life. Much less is known about how these…
CONTEXT: A small proportion of patients with serious illness or multiple chronic conditions account for the majority of health care spending. Despite the high cost, evidence demonstrates that these patients receive health care of inadequate quality,…
The aim of this study was to identify and describe resilience qualities in families after losing a child. Questionnaires, including an open-ended question, were utilized to collect data independently from the parents and siblings of the deceased in…
A child’s early experiences and environments have a significant, measurable effect on later life trajectories of health and well-being. Each child’s own world, especially parents and other caregivers, literally sculpts the brain and impacts stress…
Guideline or diagnostic criteria in clinical practice assist physicians in their clinical decision-making and improve health outcomes for patients. Diagnostic and classification criteria are based on evidence from rigorously conducted controlled…
Abstract Background: When a patient is expected to die, the ideal plan of care focuses on comfort. Prior investigation of application of one institution's end-of-life symptom management order (ESMO) protocol suggested that comfort measures were often…
The death of an infant is a profound loss that may complicate, disrupt, or end relationships between parents; and lead to maladaptive grieving, long-term decreased quality of life, and symptoms related to psychological morbidity. Facing neonatal loss…
Patients with advanced dementia often receive poor end-of-life care. We aimed to design and pilot a palliative care and advance care plan (ACP) intervention. Patients had undergone emergency hospital admission and had severe dementia. The…
Pediatric surgeons can play an important role in offering procedures that may improve the quality of life for terminally ill children. As with all palliative interventions, surgical therapies should be evaluated in the context of explicitly defined…
Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with advanced or terminal cancer have distinctive medical and psychosocial needs that may not have been adequately provided by either pediatric or adult palliative care services. A discussion group, as part of a…
INTRODUCTION: Palliative care services that address physical pain and emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual needs may benefit individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHODS: The objective of this study was to describe the palliative…
The enormous burden of life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and others, such as sickle cell disease, associated with physical and psychosocial suffering explains the illustrious need for palliative…
OBJECTIVE: To assess the benefit of proactive palliative medicine consultation for delineation of goals of care and quality-of-life preferences before implantation of left ventricular assist devices as destination therapy (DT)., PATIENTS AND METHODS:…
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a palliative medicine consultation on medical intensive care unit (MICU) and hospital length of stay, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) designation, and location of death for MICU patients who…
Objectives: To demonstrate feasibility and estimate the effect of an intervention to increase parental involvement in infant pain management in the NICU on parents' stress and postdischarge parenting competence and confidence. Methods: The study…
PURPOSE: To compare quality of life of children with cancer with no reasonable chance of cure reported by parents 6 months or fewer versus more than 6 months before death. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included children between the…
Pain coping is thought to be the most significant behavioural contribution to the adjustment to pain. Little is known about how those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) cope with pain. We describe parental reported coping styles…
BACKGROUND: Although pediatric nurses working in children's hospitals often provide care to dying children, little is known about their palliative care beliefs and experiences as individuals or members of groups within the hospital. OBJECTIVE: To…
This article discusses the need for person-specific planning for the increasing numbers of disabled children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. It describes the system developed in Nottingham for this client group to have a…
OBJECTIVE: To determine where children die following discharge from paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in Great Britain and to investigate if this varies by discharge to palliative care. DESIGN: National cohort of PICU admissions linked to…
The care of children in the U.S. with life-limiting illnesses is inadequate. Misallocated resources, flawed assumptions and models of care, and a lack of appropriate professional education foster a costly, inefficient system that falls short of its…
Communication with children who have life-threatening illnesses is a major challenge. Communication practices are greatly influenced by factors such as the child’s age, the parents’ wishes, and the cultural norms. This article presents the case…
Abstract Aims: To determine the spirituality of parents whose children have life-limiting illnesses and to determine the factors associated with parents' spirituality. Methods: Telephone survey of 129 parents whose children were enrolled in a…
BACKGROUND: It has been argued that having a stillborn baby in the family affects older siblings more than parents realize. The aim of this study was to describe parenthood and the needs of siblings after stillbirth from the parents' perspective.…
