Cross-national understanding of place of death is crucial for health service systems for their provision of efficient and equal access to paediatric palliative care. The objectives of this population-level study were to examine where children with…
OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to describe the use of drugs with a possible or certain life-shortening effect in end-of-life care in infants and to evaluate the possibly lethal effect. DESIGN: For 292/298 deaths of live born infants (
The objective of this study was to assess how frequently end-of-life decisions (ELDs) with a possible or certain life-shortening effect in neonates and infants were discussed with parents, and to determine if consultation of parents was associated…
OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes of adolescent cancer survivors toward end-of-life decisions with life-shortening effects, including nontreatment decisions (NTDs), intensified alleviation of pain and symptoms (APS),…
BACKGROUND: Belgium's law on euthanasia allows only physicians to perform the act. We investigated the involvement of nurses in the decision-making and in the preparation and administration of life-ending drugs with a patient's explicit request…
BACKGROUND: Legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has been heavily debated in many countries. To help inform this debate, we describe the practices of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the use of life-ending drugs without an…
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Hospital deaths following several hospital admissions or long hospital stays may be indicative of a low quality of dying. Although place of death has been extensively investigated at population level, hospital use in the last…
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of end-of-life decisions and to describe their characteristics and the preceding decision-making process in minors in Belgium. DESIGN: Population-based postmortem anonymous physician survey. SETTING: Flanders,…
BACKGROUND: Population-based studies monitoring end-of-life care are lacking. This study describes involvement of caregivers, access to specialist palliative care, treatment goals (cure, life-prolonging, or palliation), and content of end-of-life…
Abstract Background: The place of death is of considerable interest now, yet few studies have determined public preferences for place of end-of-life (EOL) care or final days of life. Objective: A survey was designed to answer three questions: (1)…
Continuous sedation until death (CSD), the act of reducing or removing the consciousness of an incurably ill patient until death, often provokes medical-ethical discussions in the opinion sections of medical and nursing journals. A content analysis…
BACKGROUND: The death of a child before or shortly after birth is frequently preceded by an end-of-life decision (ELD). Population-based studies of incidence and characteristics of ELDs in neonates and infants are rare, and those in the…
AIM: Perinatal death is often preceded by an end-of-life decision (ELD). Disparate hospital policies, complex legal frameworks and ethically difficult cases make attitudes important. This study investigated attitudes of neonatologists and nurses…
OBJECTIVE: To develop and face-validate population-level indicators for potential appropriateness of end-of-life care, for children with cancer, neurological conditions, and genetic/congenital conditions, to be applied to administrative health data…
BACKGROUND: Mortality and end-of-life decision-making can occur in newborns, especially within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For parents, participating in end-of-life decision-making is taxing. Knowledge is lacking on what support is helpful to…
OBJECTIVE: To measure the appropriateness of end-of-life care for children who died with neurological conditions. STUDY DESIGN: Based on linked routinely collected databases, we conducted a population-level decedent retrospective cohort study of…
BACKGROUND: Although advance care planning (ACP) has been widely recommended to support patient and family engagement in understanding the patient's values, preferences and goals of care, there are only a few models in paediatric oncology that…
BACKGROUND: Research has highlighted the need for evidence-based interventions to improve paediatric advance care planning (pACP) in adolescents with cancer. Although adolescents express the desire and ability to share their values, beliefs and…
Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the appropriateness of end-of-life care for children who died with neurologic conditions. Study design: Based on linked routinely collected databases, we conducted a population-level…
Abstract This study aims to evaluate the appropriateness of end-of-life care for children with genetic and congenital conditions. This is a decedent cohort study. We used 6 linked, Belgian, routinely collected, population-level databases containing…
