Related Experiment Videos
Paediatric palliative care: distinctive needs and emerging issues
1Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. hynsonj@cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au
Insights
Palliative care for children requires specialized approaches due to unique needs. Effective pediatric palliative care necessitates collaboration between hospital and community settings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Palliative Care
- Oncology
- Family Medicine
Background:
- Palliative medicine has historically focused on adults with cancer.
- The specific needs of dying children are often inadequately addressed.
- There is ongoing debate regarding the optimal providers for pediatric palliative care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the unique considerations for applying palliative care principles in pediatrics.
- To discuss the challenges and strategies for delivering effective pediatric palliative care.
- To emphasize the need for research and collaboration in this field.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on palliative care in pediatrics.
- Analysis of differences between adult and pediatric palliative care.
- Discussion of barriers and facilitators to care delivery.
Main Results:
- Pediatric palliative care differs significantly from adult care due to patient heterogeneity, developmental stages, and family involvement.
- Families generally prefer home-based care for children.
- Successful pediatric palliative care requires bridging hospital and community care gaps.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric palliative care demands tailored strategies that acknowledge the child's unique context.
- Enhanced collaboration between pediatricians and palliative care physicians is crucial.
- Further research is needed to strengthen the evidence base for pediatric palliative care.
Abstract:
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.
Related Concept Videos
01:25Continuing Care
01:29Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
01:27Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's cancer...
01:27Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
01:17Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
01:30Ethical Dilemmas II