The transfer of critically ill children from intensive care units (ICUs) to their homes for palliation is seldom described. We report our 10-year pediatric palliative transport experience and conducted a survey to gain parents' perspectives of their…
Background: Palliative care (PC) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is often provided exclusively to infants expected to die. Standards of care support providing PC early after diagnosis with any condition likely to impact quality of…
Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic intervention that could potentially be utilized by pediatric palliative care social workers to aid in providing individualized support and adaptive coping techniques through end-of-life and bereavement. Multiple…
This study was conducted to determine neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses' opinions about the palliative care needs of neonates with multiple congenital anomalies. The study sample consisted of the 20 nurses who agreed to participate in the…
Medical assistance in dying (MAID) legislation in Canada followed much deliberation after the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Carter v. Canada Included in this deliberation was the Special Joint Committee on Physician Assisted Dying's…
PURPOSE: Perinatal and neonatal palliative care guidelines recommend the provision of photographs and other mementos as an element of care for parents bereaved by neonatal loss. However, little is known about parents' perceptions of such bereavement…
Children are seeing rapid changes to their routines and facing an unpredictable future. Palliative care teams may consider expanding their communication training and skill sets to help families consider caring ways to communicate with their children…
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of specialized pediatric palliative care (PPC) on neonates with life-limiting conditions compared to standard care. STUDY DESIGN: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled…
OBJECTIVES: To describe how children currently die in Spanish PICUs, their epidemiologic characteristics and clinical diagnoses. DESIGN: Prospective multicenter observational study. SETTING: Eighteen PICUs participating in the MOdos de Morir en UCI…
The purpose of this research was to ascertain the availability and depth of services of bereavement care for mothers who live rurally. The specific focus is on those who experienced early losses including pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal, and young…
OBJECTIVE: When an infant's prognosis is uncertain, communication between neonatologists and parents surrounding goals of care and decision-making can be challenging. This qualitative study explored communication between neonatologists and parents to…
Evaluation of a Manualized Group Program for Siblings of Children with Diseases or Disabilities This study evaluates a manualized group program for siblings of children with life-threatening/life-limiting diseases or disabilities. The program aims to…
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To familiarize pediatric anesthesiologists with primary palliative care procedural communication skills and recommendations for discussions involving complex medical decision-making or advance care planning, such as discussions…
Perinatal hospice care is a special form of paediatric palliative care, with a focus on prenatally diagnosed malformation, providing physical, psychological and mental support with a holistic approach for the families. Our aim was to analyse how…
Many ethical issues arise concerning the care of critically ill and dying patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this issue's Ethics Rounds, we present 2 cases that highlight 2 different sorts of ethical issues. One is…
AIM: This study described the development, and pilot evaluation, of the Implementing Pediatric Advance Care Planning Toolkit (IMPACT). METHODS: Key elements of paediatric advance care planning (ACP) were defined using a systematic review, a survey of…
BACKGROUND: In 2017, the Nebraska Unicameral passed legislative bill 506, which required physicians to inform patients carrying fetuses diagnosed with a life-limiting anomaly of the option to enroll in a comprehensive perinatal hospice program. The…
Objective: The care provided in the time surrounding the death of a child shapes long-term memories and has potential to impact on the grieving process. There are no specific guidelines for PICU staff in relation to what good care looks like at this…
Background: Previous studies of pediatric residents have identified educational gaps in caring for children with medical complexity. Training opportunities in complex care vary across residency programs. Defining core curricular topics in complex…
During periviable deliveries, parents are confronted with overwhelming and challenging decisions. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the language that pregnant women and important others utilize when discussing palliation, or "comfort care,"…
BACKGROUND: First defined in 2002 by Catlin and Carter, neonatal palliative care (NPC) is a relatively new model of care in neonatal pediatrics, first appearing in the medical literature in the early 1980s. PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to…
The article presents a discussion between bereaved parents on the Quality of Life Steering Council at a large academic pediatric cancer center and interdisciplinary pediatric palliative care clinicians about the coexistence of hope and realism.…
The health care decisions of families of children who have life-limiting genetic diseases are impacted by multiple factors including religious and ethical values, education and knowledge, emotional trauma, availability of support, and accessibility…
BACKGROUND: The involvement of speech and language therapists (SLTs) within paediatric palliative care (PPC) settings has been recognized within the extant literature. However, there is little understanding of SLT's specific roles and practices when…
Background: A significant number of newborns are affected by life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. Despite this prevalence, there are inconsistencies in attitudes toward, and delivery of, neonatal palliative care. Implementing neonatal…
Babies born at the limit of viability have a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Despite great advances in science, the approach to these newborns remains challenging. Thus, this study reviewed the literature regarding the treatment of newborns at…
The UK adopted the opt-out system (deemed or presumed consent) in end-of-life organ donation enforceable in May 2020. Presumed consent applies to adults but not children. Transplant advocates have recommended that all children on end-of-life care…
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Children with medical or surgical critical illness or injury require skillful attention to physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs, whereas their families need support and guidance in facing life-threatening or…
The field of pediatric cardiology has witnessed major changes over the past few decades that have considerably altered patient outcomes, including decreasing mortality rates for many previously untreatable conditions. Despite this, some pediatric…
Parents of ill children have willingly identified their personal beliefs about what they should do or focus on to fulfill their own internal definition of being a good parent for their child. This observation has led to the development of the…
Background: Children in rural geographies are not universally able to access pediatric-trained palliative or hospice providers. Objective(s): Determine whether telehealth inclusion of a familiar pediatric palliative care provider during the first two…
Objective: NHS England's Marginal Rate Emergency Threshold (MRET) and Readmission Fund funded the Chameleon Project 2018 (Twitter account: @chameleonproje1), to improve children's end of life care. This funded a lead disability paediatrician with…
BACKGROUND: Advances in prenatal testing and diagnosis have resulted in more parents learning during pregnancy that their child may die before or shortly after birth. These advances in testing and diagnosis have also resulted in more parents…
Objectives: * State the elements and trajectory of distress for parents caring for children and adolescents undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. * Examine the impact of parent…
Background: Fetal malformations are diagnosed prenatally in nearly 3% of pregnancies, and ~1.2% are major malformations. After prenatal diagnosis, it is imperative to consider families' values and to support their decision-making process. Prenatal…
Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe how end-of-life care is managed when life-support limitation is decided in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and to analyze the influence of the further development of the Palliative Care Unit.…
CONTEXT: Children with chronic critical illness (CCI) have repeated and prolonged hospitalizations. Discrete communication challenges characterize their inpatient care. OBJECTIVES: Develop, implement and evaluate a communication training for…
OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers, as perceived by parents, to good care for children with life-threatening conditions. DESIGN: In a nationwide qualitative study, we held in-depth interviews regarding end-of-life care with parents of children (aged 1…
