Pediatric palliative care and pediatric hospice care (PPC-PHC) are often essential aspects of medical care for patients who have life-threatening conditions or need end-of-life care. PPC-PHC aims to relieve suffering, improve quality of life,…
The aim of this study was to understand children's cancer nurses experiences of providing palliative care in the acute hospital setting. Palliative care for children with cancer is rarely hospital- centred and predominately care is provided in the…
OBJECTIVE: To identify and illustrate common explicit heuristics (decision-making aids or shortcuts expressed verbally as terse rules of thumb, aphorisms, maxims, or mantras and intended to convey a compelling truth or guiding principle) used by…
Two home telehealth technologies (the Intel Health Guide and the Apple iPad) were trialled by four clinical services of the Hunter New England Local Health District. The iPad was selected by the Paediatric Palliative Care Service, the Stroke Service…
BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain causes greater pain intensity and worse quality of life than nociceptive pain. There are no published data that confirm this in the cancer population. AIM: We hypothesised that patients with neuropathic cancer pain had…
PURPOSE: To evaluate an end-of-life (EOL) program related to specific outcomes (i.e., number of hospitalizations and place of death) for children with brain tumors. DESIGN AND METHODS: From 1990 to 2005, a retrospective chart review was performed…
Abstract Background: The experiences of young people who have siblings with life-limiting illnesses are not well understood. Aim: The study proposed to identify the concerns of siblings of pediatric palliative care (PPC) patients. Design and…
BACKGROUND: Promoting resilience is an aspect of psychosocial care that affects patient and whole-family well-being. There is little consensus about how to define or promote resilience during and after pediatric cancer. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this…
BACKGROUND: The provision of emotional and psychological support for all family members who need it is an essential element of holistic palliative care. Within East Anglia's Children's Hospice, teams of professionally trained and experienced workers…
PURPOSE: Synovial sarcoma (SS) often metastasizes to the lung; however, the indications for and outcomes of pulmonary metastasectomy have not been evaluated in pediatric/adolescent patients. METHODS: The records of pediatric patients (age
Awareness is growing that young adults may have distinctive experiences of adult healthcare and that their needs may differ from those of other adult users. In addition, the role of adult health teams in supporting positive transitions from…
In this article, the American Cancer Society provides estimates of the number of new cancer cases and deaths for children and adolescents in the United States and summarizes the most recent and comprehensive data on cancer incidence, mortality, and…
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common life-shortening genetic disease and is associated with poor psychosocial and quality of life outcomes. The objective of this study was to describe the experiences and perspectives of children…
BACKGROUND: The need for empathy and the difficulties of coping with mortality when caring for the dying and the bereaved can cause psychological, emotional, and spiritual strain. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of…
In February 2014 the Belgian parliament voted to extend the existing euthanasia law to cover children under the age of 18. The law sanctions euthanasia for children with terminal or incurable conditions who are near death, suffering 'constant and…
UNICEF and the International Children's Palliative Care Network undertook a joint analysis in three sub-Saharan countries-Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya-to estimate the palliative care need among their children and to explore these countries'…
AIM: In childhood, severe psychomotor impairment (SPMI) is associated with profound sleep disturbances. With the help of newly developed and validated measures, we systematically assessed how much a child's sleep disturbance affects parental sleep…
AIM: The aim of the study was to determine survival probabilities and life expectancies for individuals with cerebral palsy based on data collected over a 28-year period in California. METHOD: We identified all individuals with cerebral palsy, aged 4…
PURPOSE: The current study was undertaken (1) to capture a clinically relevant, systematically collected series of patients with metastatic cancer and transfusion-associated vaginal bleeding and (2) to provide insight into how best to palliate this…
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between birth weight percentile and the risk of perinatal death at term in relation to the cause of death. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all term singleton births in delivery units in…
BACKGROUND: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) aims to promote quality of life for children and their families through prevention and relief of physical and psychosocial symptoms. Little is known about how PPC/hospice services impact health care…
In the complex patient—doctor relationship, the principle of personal autonomy has gradually acquired more weight against medical paternalism, both in clinical practice and in bioethical thinking. 1 In many countries, this change has been…
PURPOSE: Systematic knowledge about the prevalence and the treatment effects of cancer pain in patients attending a general oncology outpatient department is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain in a large…
BACKGROUND: The most common, debilitating morbidity of sickle cell disease (SCD) is vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) pain. Although guidelines exist for its management, they are generally not well-followed, and research in other pediatric diseases has…
BACKGROUND: The influence of socio-economic and religious background on decisions made by parents of children with incurable cancer regarding DNR orders is not fully understood. PROCEDURE: A retrospective analysis of medical charts of patients who…
CONTEXT: Parents of a seriously ill child may have different concerns and hopes for their child, and these concerns and hopes may change over time. OBJECTIVES: In a mixed-method prospective cohort of parental dyads of children with serious illness,…
Aims In June 2016, Bill C-14 was enacted in the Canadian Parliament, allowing medical assistance in dying (MAID) for consenting adults with 'grievous and irremediable medical conditions' experiencing 'intolerable' suffering whose deaths are…
BACKGROUND: The number of children worldwide requiring palliative care services is increasing due to advances in medical care and technology. The use of outcome measures is important to improve the quality and effectiveness of care. AIM: To…
Managing end-of-life care (EoL) is always emotionally taxing. Honest discussions about prognosis and EoL decision-making are often delayed due to questions about the legal competence of adolescents and young adults (AYA) to make decisions for…
OBJECTIVE: Each year, more than 11,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs), aged 15-34, die from cancer and other life-threatening conditions. In order to facilitate the transition from curative to end-of-life (EoL) care, it is recommended that EoL…
Identification of children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) is necessary to improve health care delivery and perform clinical research, because this patient population uses significant inpatient and outpatient medical resources.1 The original…
AIM: The aim of this study was to seek views of UK children's and adult hospices on the availability and challenges of providing services for young adults with life-limiting conditions. BACKGROUND: Internationally, there are a growing number of young…
IMPORTANCE: Mitochondrial disease is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. Although children with mitochondrial disease often have severe, life-limiting illnesses, many survive into adulthood. There is, however, limited information about the…
Background: Inpatient hospice care (IHC) for adults in Germany is used in the last weeks of life. Children, adolescents and young adults (ACA) with life-limiting diseases are entitled to 28 days/year of IHC during their lifetime. We explored various…
Background: Approximately, 300 children die in Denmark every year. In order to support future implementation of specialized pediatric palliative care the aim of this study was to investigate the needs, quality of life and severity of distress of…
Introduction: Advancement in medical science and better health care has led to increased survival of children with complex neurodisability (cerebral palsy, neuromuscular, neuro-metabolic, and genetic disorders). Paediatric palliative care has…
BACKGROUND: Improvements in care and treatment have led to more young adults with life-limiting conditions living beyond childhood, which means they must make the transition from children's to adult services. This has proved a challenging process for…
INTRODUCTION: More than 8,000 Hispanic children die annually in the United States; yet little is known about the end-of-life care utilized. The purpose of this study was to examine the children and family characteristics associated with end-of-life…
