What do parents value regarding pediatric palliative and hospice care in the home setting?
discrete choice experiment; home-based care; pediatric hospice care; pediatric palliative care
CONTEXT: Children with life-shortening serious illnesses and medically complex care needs are often cared for by their families at home. Little, however, is known about what aspects of pediatric palliative and hospice care in the home setting (PPHC@Home) families value the most. OBJECTIVE: To explore how parents rate and prioritize domains of PPHC@Home as the first phase of a larger study that developed a parent-reported measure of experiences with PPHC@Home. METHODS: Twenty domains of high-value PPHC@Home, derived from the National Consensus Project's Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, the literature, and a stakeholder panel, were evaluated. Using a discrete choice experiment, parents provided their ratings of the most and least valued PPHC@Home domains. We also explored potential differences in how subgroups of parents rated the domains. RESULTS: Forty-seven parents participated. Overall, highest-rated domains included Physical Aspects of Care: Symptom Management, Psychological/EmotionalSupportfor the Child, and Care Coordination. Lowest-rated domains included Spiritual and Religious Aspects of Care and Cultural Aspects of Care. In exploratory analyses, parents who had other children rated the Psychological/Emotional Aspects of Care for the Sibling(s) domain significantly higher than parents who did not have other children (P=0.02). Furthermore, bereaved parents rated the CaregiverSupportat the End of Life domain significantly higher than parents who were currently caring for their child (P=0.04). No other significant differences in domain ratings were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing what parents value most about PPHC@Home provides the foundation for further exploration and conversation about priority areas for resource allocation and care improvement efforts.
Boyden J Y; Ersek M; Deatrick J A; Widger K; LaRagione G; Lord B; Feudtner C
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.07.024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.07.024</a>
Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care in Neonates with Life-Limiting Illness: A Systematic Review
life limiting; outcomes; palliative care; perinatal; teams
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 Trials, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase databases were searched from January 2000 to September 2018. Randomized clinical trials, experimental or observational studies, and secondary administrative database analyses published in English, Spanish, French, and German were included. Two independent reviewers extracted data, and used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for quality analysis. Discrepancies were resolved as a team. RESULTS: From the 37,788 records obtained, only eight articles met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was not possible due to the heterogeneity in how the outcomes were defined; however, a qualitative synthesis of the results was possible; organizing outcomes into eight different categories: psychological, social and spiritual support; communication; location of care; symptom management; bereavement care; predicted versus actual neonatal outcomes; and parental coping, stress, and satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Specialized versus may have an impact on neonates with life-limiting conditions and their families. More studies that evaluate the impact of specialized versus in neonates with sound statistical analysis is warranted.
Zuniga-Villanueva G; Widger K; Medeiros C; Trenholm M; Streuli J C
American Journal of Perinatology
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1710031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1055/s-0040-1710031</a>
Decision aids available for parents making end-of-life or palliative care decisions for children: A scoping review
child; decision support technique; palliative care; parent; pediatrics
Aim: To identify and assess the quality of decision aids that align the decision, values and information provided for parents making end-of-life or palliative care decisions for children with life-threatening conditions. Method(s): Six databases and the grey literature were searched in December 2018. Two reviewers independently reviewed database citations, and one reviewed grey literature citations. Citation chaining via Scopus was conducted. Quality was assessed using IPDAS Collaboration Criteria. Result(s): After reviewing 18 671 database citations and 10 988 grey literature citations, 18 citations describing 11 decision aids remained. Decision aids targeted premature infants, children requiring airway management, children with cancer and children with scoliosis. Three aids underwent testing beyond initial development. Quality scores averaged 27 of 50 points. Conclusion(s): There are few high-quality decision aids available for use and a lack evidence of widespread clinical use. Additional research is needed to support systematic development and the use of decision aids with families. Copyright © 2020 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
Medeiros C; Buckley L; Metcalfe K; Narayanan U G; Widger K
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14885" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1111/jpc.14885</a>
Scoping review of symptoms in children with rare, progressive, life-threatening disorders
symptoms and symptom management
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 healthcare professionals are challenged by a lack of evidence for symptom management for these conditions. Aims In this scoping review, we systematically identified and mapped the existing literature on symptom management for children with Q3 conditions. We focused on the most common and distressing symptoms, namely alertness, behavioural problems, bowel incontinence, breathing difficulties, constipation, feeding difficulties, sleep disturbance, temperature regulation, tone and motor problems and urinary incontinence. For children with complex health conditions, good symptom management is pertinent to ensure the highest possible quality of life. Methods Scoping review. Electronic database searches in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL and a comprehensive grey literature search. Results We included 292 studies in our final synthesis. The most commonly reported conditions in the studies were Rett syndrome (n=69), followed by Cornelia de Lange syndrome (n=25) and tuberous sclerosis (n=16). Tone and motor problems were the most commonly investigated symptom (n=141), followed by behavioural problems (n=82) and sleep disturbance (n=62). Conclusion The evidence for symptom management in Q3 conditions is concentrated around a few conditions, and these studies may not be applicable to other conditions. The evidence is dispersed in the literature and difficult to access, which further challenges healthcare providers. More research needs to be done in these conditions to provide high-quality evidence for the care of these children.
Pawliuk C; Widger K; Dewan T; Brander G; Brown H L; Hermansen A M; Grégoire M C; Steele R; Siden H
BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
2019
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001943" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001943</a>
Predictors of Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care Involvement and Impact on Patterns of End-of-Life Care in Children With Cancer
Purpose The impact of specialized pediatric palliative care (SPPC) teams on patterns of end-of-life care is unknown. We sought to determine (1) which children with cancer access SPPC and (2) the impact of accessing SPPC on the risk of experiencing high-intensity end-of-life care (intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital death). Methods Using a provincial childhood cancer registry, we assembled a retrospective cohort of Ontario children with cancer who died between 2000 and 2012 and received care through pediatric institutions with an SPPC team. Patients were linked to population-based administrative data capturing inpatient, outpatient, and emergency visits. Children were classified as having SPPC, general palliative care, or no palliative care on the basis of SPPC clinical databases, physician billing codes, or inpatient diagnosis codes. Results Of the 572 children, 166 (29%) received care from an SPPC team for at least 30 days before death, and 100 (17.5%) received general palliative care. SPPC involvement was significantly less likely for children with hematologic cancers (OR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.3 to 0.4), living in the lowest income areas (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.8), and living further from the treatment center (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4 to 0.5). SPPC was associated with a five-fold decrease in odds of intensive care unit admission (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1 to 0.4), whereas general palliative care had no impact. Similar associations were seen with all secondary indicators. Conclusion When available, SPPC, but not general palliative care, is associated with lower intensity care at the end of life for children with cancer. However, access remains uneven. These results provide the strongest evidence to date supporting the creation of SPPC teams.
Widger K; Sutradhar R; Rapoport A; Vadeboncoeur C; Zelcer S; Kassam A; Nelson K; Liu Y; Wolfe J; Earle CC; Pole JD; Gupta S
Journal of Clinical Oncology
2018
<a href="http://doi.org/%2010.1200/jco.2017.75.6312" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1200/jco.2017.75.6312</a>