Current models of bereavement care do not address all of bereaved parents' unique needs. Diverse challenges limit parents' ability to access certain bereavement services. A web-based intervention prototype for bereaved parents was developed. Using…
Emotional care is an important part of the holistic labor and should be considered when providing care to people affected by perinatal losses. To synthesize the findings from recently published scientific evidence on the emotional care needed…
Introduction Youth with brain-based disabilities (BBDs), as well as their parents/caregivers, often feel ill-prepared for the transfer from paediatric to adult healthcare services. To address this pressing issue, we developed the MyREADY TransitionTM…
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"…
Abstract Context: Insufficient communication from the medical team following a child's death may compound parental grief. Pediatric residents care for children who die, yet the landscape of condolence expression education within residency programs…
AIM: To examine paediatric deaths following withdrawal or withholding of medical treatment (WWMT) from a hospital-wide perspective and identify changes over a 10 year period. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for all…
Death from stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD 5) in childhood or adolescence is rare, but something that all paediatric renal physicians and most paediatricians will encounter. In this paper, we present the literature on three key areas of…
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…
AIM: Advance care planning (ACP) is a strategy to align future care and treatment with preferences of patients and families. This study assesses the experiences of ACP among paediatricians caring for children with life-limiting conditions. METHODS:…
BACKGROUND: Cannabis is legal for recreational and medical use in Canada. Our aim was to explore family experiences using medical cannabis for children with severe conditions in the context of legalization. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study…
Many centres now report that more than half of babies born at 22 weeks survive and most survivors are neurocognitively intact. Still, many centres do not offer life-sustaining treatment to babies born this prematurely. Arguments for not offering…
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):…
Death by neurologic criteria is a diagnosis that has presented complexities since its inception and pediatric cases are no exception. While rare, families may request accommodation to deviate from the traditionally defined diagnostic pathway based on…
OBJECTIVE: To understand healthcare system facilitators and barriers to the delivery of palliative care for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their family members. DESIGN: Focus groups with children's palliative care…
OBJECTIVES: Pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We sought to summarize literature on communication and decision-making, end-of-life care, and ethical issues to identify recommended…
Decision-making surrounding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation initiation and decannulation has become a key challenge in critical care. Nuanced communication skills and transparent discussions about prognosis are imperative during this lifesaving,…
BACKGROUND: Definition and concept of the 'beginning of human life' are weakened by co-existing contrasting hypotheses based on humanistic or religious beliefs rather than scientific foundations. This plethora of conceptually distant views have…
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, aim or objectives Despite a growing corpus of qualitative research exploring parental experiences of caring for a child with a life-limiting condition (LLC), studies focusing on fathers' needs are sparse. Their voice is often diluted…
Withdrawal of life-sustaining support on the neonatal unit presents a set of unique challenges specific in this age group of patients. This article aims to provide an overview of the key factors that should be considered during this process. It…
INTRODUCTION: Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease of childhood, which has clear progression. The international standardized care guidelines for DMD suggest that palliative care is essential for the affected children.…
Pediatric palliative care providers are especially suited to support families and medical teams facing a potential diagnosis of brain death, or death by neurologic criteria (DNC), when a child suffers a devastating brain injury. To support pediatric…
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients, including children. In recent years, it has become clear that hospitalization and critical illness bestow an increased VTE risk in pediatrics and…
BACKGROUND: Although the importance of palliative care in pediatric patients has been emphasized, many health care providers have difficulty determining when patients should be referred to the palliative care team. The Paediatric Palliative Screening…
PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a pediatric stratification tool that incorporates health and non-medical determinants to identify children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) patients according to…
Advances in neonatology have led to improved survival for periviable infants. Immaturity still carries a high risk of short- and long-term harms, and uncertainty turns provision of life support into an ethical dilemma. Shared decision-making with…
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Little is known about how families respond to pediatric advance care planning. Physicians are concerned that initiating pediatric advance care planning conversations with families is too distressing for families. We…
Purpose: Previous studies have reported that prenatal exome sequencing (pES) can detect monogenic diseases in fetuses with congenital anomalies with diagnostic yields ranging from 6% to 81%, but there are few reports of its clinical utility.…
For families facing end-of-life decisions for their critically ill children, compassionate extubation at home is a valuable service that pediatric intensivists can provide. Compassionate extubation at home is resource intensive and can be…
