The duty of the physician to care for the family in pediatric palliative care: context, communication, and caring

Title

The duty of the physician to care for the family in pediatric palliative care: context, communication, and caring

Creator

Jones BL; Contro N; Koch KD

Publisher

Pediatrics

Date

2014

Subject

adolescent; Child; Female; Humans; Male; bereavement; hospice care; Pediatrics; Family; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Professional-Family Relations; Patient-Centered Care; Patient Participation; Ethics; Medical; Palliative Care

Description

Pediatric palliative care physicians have an ethical duty to care for the families of children with life-threatening conditions through their illness and bereavement. This duty is predicated on 2 important factors: (1) best interest of the child and (2) nonabandonment. Children exist in the context of a family and therefore excellent care for the child must include attention to the needs of the family, including siblings. The principle of nonabandonment is an important one in pediatric palliative care, as many families report being well cared for during their child's treatment, but feel as if the physicians and team members suddenly disappear after the death of the child. Family-centered care requires frequent, kind, and accurate communication with parents that leads to shared decision-making during treatment, care of parents and siblings during end-of-life, and assistance to the family in bereavement after death. Despite the challenges to this comprehensive care, physicians can support and be supported by their transdisciplinary palliative care team members in providing compassionate, ethical, and holistic care to the entire family when a child is ill.
2014-02

Rights

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).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Jones BL; Contro N; Koch KD, “The duty of the physician to care for the family in pediatric palliative care: context, communication, and caring,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/14895.