What Does 'Good' Palliative Care Look Like for Children and Young People? A Qualitative Study of Parents' Experiences and Perspectives
Title
What Does 'Good' Palliative Care Look Like for Children and Young People? A Qualitative Study of Parents' Experiences and Perspectives
Creator
Fields D; Fraser LK; Taylor J; Hackett J
Identifier
Publisher
Palliative Medicine
Date
2023
Subject
End-of-life care; Child; Palliative Care; child; parents; qualitative research; palliative care; Only Child
Description
BACKGROUND: Worldwide, around 21 million children would benefit from palliative care and over 7 million babies and children die each year. Whilst provision of paediatric palliative care is advancing, there major gaps between what should be done, and what is being done, in clinical practice. In 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) introduced a quality standard, to standardise and improve children's palliative care in England. However, there is little evidence about what good experiences of palliative care for children are, and how they relate to the quality standard for end-of-life care. AIM: This study explored how the NICE quality standard featured in parental experiences of palliative care for children to understand what 'good' palliative care is. DESIGN: Qualitative study, employing in-depth, telephone and video-call, semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, informed by Appreciative Inquiry. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Participants were parents of children and young people (aged 0-17?years) in England, who were receiving palliative care, and parents whose child had died. RESULTS: Fourteen mothers and three fathers were interviewed. Seven were bereaved. Parents were recruited via four children's hospices, one hospital, and via social media. Good palliative care is co-led and co-planned with trusted professionals; is integrated, responsive and flexible; encompasses the whole family; and enables parents to not only care for, but also to parent their child to end of life. CONCLUSIONS: Findings have implications for informing evidence based practice and clinical guidelines, overall improving experiences of care.
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).
Citation List Month
April List 2023
URL Address
Collection
Citation
Fields D; Fraser LK; Taylor J; Hackett J, “What Does 'Good' Palliative Care Look Like for Children and Young People? A Qualitative Study of Parents' Experiences and Perspectives,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed February 7, 2025, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/19021.