Paediatric palliative care: distinctive needs and emerging issues

Paediatric palliative care: distinctive needs and emerging issues

Hynson JL; Sawyer SM

Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health

2001

Child; Humans; infant; Pediatrics; Australia; adolescent; Newborn; location of death; Palliative Care/trends

Palliative medicine has developed as a specialized field of practice in recent decades but the focus has been very much on older adults with incurable malignancies. The needs of dying children have not been addressed adequately and the question of who is best placed to provide care to this group remains the subject of some contention. Although the principles of palliative care apply equally to children, a number of fundamental differences influence their application in the paediatric setting. These include a heterogeneous patient population, physiological factors, developmental issues, parental involvement in care giving and decision making and the desire of most paediatricians to maintain close involvement with their patients. Families generally prefer home care and even quite severe symptoms can be managed in this environment with appropriate planning, expertise and support. The delivery of effective palliative care in the paediatric setting is contingent upon overcoming barriers between hospital and community and sharing expertise between paediatricians and palliative care physicians. Research is also required to increase the evidence base for practice.

2001

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).

Journal Article

Backlog