The unique needs of children requiring palliative care and their families have been increasingly recognised on a global scale. The complexities of such care, the unpredictability of the illness trajectory and increased choice in terms of where care…
This study aims to identify the symptoms, concerns, and care priorities of children with life-limiting conditions and their families. A semi-structured qualitative interview study was conducted, seeking perspectives from multiple stakeholders on…
OBJECTIVE: Children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) and their parents benefit from supportive serious illness care when their conditions are severe and impact their quality of life and stress. This includes not only expert medical care but…
Background: Palliative care (PC) for children with life-limiting conditions (LLC) is a holistic approach to achieve the best quality of life. Aim(s): Highlighting collaboration between pediatric and PC services is essential in providing seamless…
BACKGROUND: The circumstances and care provided at the end of a child's life have a profound impact on family members. Although assessing experiences and outcomes during this time is challenging, healthcare professionals have a responsibility to…
This is a review of palliative care for children in Denmark which remains a relatively new area. Studies have shown a high prevalence of symptoms and problems in children with life-limiting diagnoses during the last month of life. Psychological…
BACKGROUND: With paediatric patients, deciding whether to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining treatments (LST) at the end of life is difficult and ethically sensitive. Little is understood about how and why physicians decide on withholding/withdrawing…
Background/aims: Patient and public involvement (PPI) is essential to design and deliver meaningful research, but evidence on how to involve children and young people (CYP) in palliative care studies is limited. We aim to develop strategies to engage…
Background/aims: Define a gradual transition from pediatric to adult palliative care able to support adolescent patients (pts) with chronic and progressive diseases and their family.
Technology-dependent children are a sub-population of seriously ill children with life-limiting conditions who are being cared for at home by their families. Although home-based care has been the model of care for these children since the late 1980s,…
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The family is a reliable and permanent source of support for every human being. It is the key link in the welfare system. The aim of the study is to assess parents' attitudes towards the occurrence of a difficult situation…
AIM: Hospital readmissions within 28 days are an important performance measurement of quality and safety of health care. The aims of this study were to examine the rates, trends and characteristics of paediatric intensive care unit admissions, and…
BACKGROUND: Advance care planning for young people is relatively new in the UK. There is a lack of understanding about the engagement of young people in their own planning process, optimal timing of discussions and the facilitators and barriers to…
BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe pre-existing factors associated with severe disease, primarily admission to critical care, and death secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalised children and young people (CYP), within a systematic review and…
Introduction Multimorbidity, the co-occurrence of a chronic physical condition and mental disorder, affects a substantial number of children and youth and can lead to compromised quality of life, hardship for families, and an increased burden on the…
Background: Children with life-limiting conditions receive specialist paediatric care in childhood, but the transition to adult care during adolescence. There are concerns about transition, including a lack of continuity in care and that it may lead…
Poor access to care is a top patient-oriented research priority for youth with chronic pain in Canada, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these concerns. Our patient-oriented project team engaged with marginalized and racialized youth with…
OBJECTIVES: Children with medical complexity (CMC) have high readmission rates, but relatively little is known from the parent perspective regarding care experiences surrounding and factors contributing to readmissions. We aimed to elicit parent…
BACKGROUND: Although perinatal deaths are still a common pregnancy outcome in developing countries, little is known about the effect perinatal death has on fathers. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to understand and describe the meaning of…
OBJECTIVES: To characterize patterns of surgery among pediatric patients during terminal hospitalizations in children's hospitals. METHODS: We reviewed patients ≤20 years of age who died among 4 424 886 hospitalizations from January 2013-December…
BACKGROUND: A substantial proportion of young people with Complex Chronic Conditions (CCCs) experience some degree of discontinuation of follow-up care, which is an umbrella term to describe a broken chain of follow-up. Discontinuation of follow-up…
BACKGROUND: Families and professionals caring for children with life-limiting conditions face difficult healthcare decisions. Shared decision-making is promoted in many countries, however little is known about factors influencing these processes.…
OBJECTIVES: Hospital discharge offers an opportunity to initiate coordination of follow-up care, preventing readmissions or emergency department (ED) recidivism. We evaluated how revisits and costs of care varied in a 12-month period between children…
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition estimated to affect 1 in 66 children in Canada and 1 in 270 individuals worldwide. As effective therapies for the management of ASD core and associated symptoms are limited,…
BACKGROUND: Very little research has been reported examining nonpharmacologic symptom management strategies for very young, hospitalized children receiving palliative care, and none has involved Reiki-a light touch therapy. OBJECTIVES: To determine…
BACKGROUND: Communication in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) between families and the health care team affects the family experience, caregiver psychological morbidity, and patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of studying and…
INTRODUCTION: A growing number of children and young people are surviving severe acquired brain injuries due to advances in healthcare. However, many fail to emerge from coma and continue to live with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Diagnostic,…
BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing number of studies using photo-elicitation for data collection in qualitative research, there is a need to further explore its use among families of children and adolescents living with chronic illness. OBJECTIVE(S):…
Children with medical complexity (CMC) are patients with one or more complex chronic conditions dependent on medical technologies. In our unit (Pediatric Pulmonology and Respiratory Intermediate Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics, "Bambino Gesù"…
BACKGROUND: Managing transition of adolescents/young adults with life-limiting conditions from children's to adult services has become a global health and social care issue. Suboptimal transitions from children's to adult services can lead to…
Data show that children are less severely affected with SARS-Covid-19 than adults; however, there have been a small proportion of children who have been critically unwell. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify and describe which underlying…
OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of palliative care (PC) on end-of-life (EoL) care and the place of death (PoD) in children, adolescents, and young adults with life-limiting conditions. METHOD(S): Eight online databases (PubMed, Medline, EMBASE,…
BACKGROUND: Research ethics committees are commonly perceived as a 'barrier' to research involving seriously ill children. Researchers studying seriously ill children often feel that committees view their applications more harshly compared to…
OBJECTIVES: To assess the ability of two illness severity scores, Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction Score 2 and Pediatric Index of Mortality 3, in predicting PICU-acquired morbidity. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review conducted from April 2015 to…
BACKGROUND: Better tools are needed to diagnose and identify children at risk of clinical malnutrition. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare body composition (BC) and malnutrition screening tools (MSTs) for detecting malnutrition on admission; and examine…
BACKGROUND: Advance care planning for children with palliative care needs is an emotionally, legally and complex aspect of care, advocated as beneficial to children, families and health professionals. Evidence suggests healthcare professionals often…
Background: Most parents vividly recall the weeks, days, and moments preceding their child's death for years to come. Dissatisfaction with communication about their child's condition and lack of guidance can contribute to stress prior to a child's…
Background: Specialist paediatric palliative care services are promoted as an important component of palliative care provision, but there is uncertainty about their role for children with cancer. Aim(s): To examine the impact of specialist paediatric…
Oral health care is an integral component of interprofessional collaborative care for children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer. The current review highlights the phases of cancer therapy when dental interventions and palliative care are…
PURPOSE: Previous research shows that bereaved parents are at an increased risk for intense and prolonged grief responses. To offer effective support to parents during a child's cancer treatment and after their child's death, more knowledge is needed…
