BACKGROUND: Children with a life-limiting condition often require extensive and complex care, much of which is provided by their parents at home. There is a growing body of research that aims to understand the experiences of these parents, but the…
OBJECTIVES: Numbers are rising of chronically and critically ill, technology-dependent children, who are admitted to paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). An integrated model of care (IMOC), that combines paediatric critical care and primary…
OBJECTIVES: No randomised controlled trials have been conducted for breakthrough pain in paediatric palliative care and there are currently no standardised outcome measures. The DIPPER study aims to establish the feasibility of conducting a…
OBJECTIVE: Losing a child is burdensome with potential long-term impact on the parents' well-being and quality of life. The aim was to investigate parental well-being and quality of life 3-5 years after losing a child due to life-limiting diagnoses…
OBJECTIVE: Ensure access to perinatal palliative care (PnPC) to all eligible fetuses/infants/parents. DESIGN: During 12 meetings in 2016, a multidisciplinary work-group (WG) performed literature review (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment,…
BACKGROUND: Health service planning in paediatric palliative care is complex, with the diverse geographical and demographic characteristics adding to the challenge of developing services across different nations. Accurate and reliable data are…
OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to synthesise the available evidence surrounding the structure, processes and outcomes of family meetings in the paediatric palliative care literature. METHOD(S): We undertook an integrative literature review informed by the…
OBJECTIVE: To assess the involvement of volunteers with direct patient/family contact in UK palliative care services for children and young people. METHOD: Cross-sectional survey using a web-based questionnaire. SETTING: UK specialist paediatric…
Introduction Being part of a school community, where young people develop peer relationships and experience a sense of their value in society, is integral to childhood/young adulthood. Supporting terminally ill young people to maintain a role within…
Introduction Recruitment in paediatric palliative care is widely reported as challenging, with low rates of invitation by clinicians. The impact of this on sample bias is unknown. Aim(s) and method(s) We studied recruitment to a qualitative interview…
Background The death of a baby is recognised as one of the most difficult bereavements with life-long impact for parents. How bereaved parents are cared for influences their grief journey. Optimal holistic care is provided when the physical,…
BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge exists of parents' perceptions and experiences of children's hospices and how these contribute to the varied access and uptake of services. AIM: This study aimed to explore parents' perspectives and experiences of a…
OBJECTIVE: Discussing the potential deterioration of a child who has a life-limiting condition has recognised benefits for future care, but can be challenging in a clinical context where uncertain illness trajectories are common. Existing research is…
CONTEXT: Supporting spiritual needs is a well-established aspect of palliative care, but no data exist regarding how physicians engage with patients and families around spirituality during care conferences in paediatric intensive care units (PICU).…
OBJECTIVES: (1) To operationalise our previously published definition of neonatal serious illness by applying it to a patient cohort and (2) to evaluate timing of palliative care consultation, goals of care discussions and meeting serious illness…
Background The ways parents are supported at the end of their child�s life and after death can profoundly affect the grieving process. Within children�s hospices cold bedrooms, cooling blankets and cuddle cots are provided to enable families to be…
OBJECTIVES: Controlling seizures in children approaching death can be difficult, and there is a limited evidence base to guide best practice. We compared current practice against the guidance for seizure management produced by the Association of…
We recently administered a survey to investigate the prescribing of buccal and intranasal fentanyl for breakthrough pain in paediatric palliative care in the UK.
OBJECTIVE: Life-limiting neuromuscular disease, such as some of the muscular dystrophies, are often diagnosed in early childhood: when death comes, commonly in the second or third decade of life, patients rarely have advance care plans in place or…
BACKGROUND: Although models of hospital-based palliative care are common in high-income countries, they are rare in low-income countries despite the high burden of progressive disease. AIM: To measure the proportion of all adult and child patients…
BACKGROUND: Given the dearth of literature and no clinical practice guidelines written for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in paediatric palliative care (PPC), a need has been identified to explore the scope of clinical practice and…
OBJECTIVE: We sought to understand how healthcare professionals (HCP) conceptualise spirituality among seriously ill children and young people (CYP) and their families, and their experiences in dealing with spiritual issues that emerge in practice.…
OBJECTIVE: To investigate bereaved parents' perception of end-of-life communication with healthcare professionals after losing a child due to life-limiting diagnoses. METHODS: A national register identified the causes of death of 951 children aged…
OBJECTIVE: Symptoms and problems (S&P) are under-reported in children in end-of-life care.To target future interventions, the primary aim was to examine S&P in children in end-of-life care. METHOD(S): All parents, who lost a child under the age of 18…
BACKGROUND Recent research shows a rising national prevalence of Life Limiting Conditions in children identifying an escalating need for paediatric palliative care services in the UK.(1) Hospice services must ensure quality, sustainable care and…
Objectives To review literature relating to evidence, context and facilitation to describe knowledge translation in paediatric palliative care. Paediatric palliative care requires competences including both paediatric specialists as well as services…
Introduction Communicating with patients about their feelings and preferences for the future is a challenging element of palliative care. Useful evidence exists, but most is embedded in social-scientific rather than clinical research.Aims and Methods…
OBJECTIVES: Palliative care services have, up to now, paid insufficient attention to social aspects of dying and bereavement and this has affected how patients and their families experience end of life and bereavement within their communities. New…
Background Q3 conditions are progressive, metabolic, neurological or chromosomal childhood conditions without a cure. Children with these conditions face an unknown lifespan as well as unstable and uncomfortable symptoms. Clinicians and other…
Studies indicate research ethics committee (REC) approval and clinician gatekeeping are two key barriers in recruiting children and young people (CYP) with life-limiting conditions (LLCs) and life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) and their families to…
Studies indicate research ethics committee (REC) approval and clinician gatekeeping are two key barriers in recruiting children and young people (CYP) with life-limiting conditions (LLCs) and life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) and their families to…
OBJECTIVES: Adolescents and young adults with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions are often socially isolated because of the demands of their illness. Although adolescents and young adults have a noticeable online and social media presence,…
OBJECTIVES: Place of death (POD) is considered a key quality indicator for adult end of-life care, but paediatric evidence is limited. Data from Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) databases provides an opportunity to describe trends in POD as regional…
Objective In Germany, children with life-limiting conditions and complex symptoms are eligible for specialised outpatient palliative care (SOPC). In the federal state of Hesse, SOPC for children (SOPPC) is delivered by teams with paediatric…
Abstract
Patient and public involvement in healthcare is important to ensure services meet their needs and priorities. Increasingly, patient experiences are being used to educate healthcare professionals. The potential contribution to medical…
OBJECTIVES: Identifying the preferred place of death for children/young people with cancer and determining whether this is achieved is pertinent to inform palliative care service provision. The aims of this retrospective case series review were to…
BACKGROUND: Paediatric palliative care focuses on the enhancement of the quality of life for a child and family through a combination of active and compassionate therapies intended to comfort and support the child and family who are living with a…
