Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Guidelines for Elective Pediatric Fiberoptic Intubation
Published on: January 17, 2011
Aligning guidelines and medical practice: Literature review on pediatric palliative care guidelines
Eva De Clercq1, Michael Rost1, Nadia Pacurari1
1Institute for Biomedical Ethics,University of Basel,Basel,Switzerland.
Insights
Pediatric palliative care (PPC) implementation faces barriers like medical practice gaps and insufficient research. Recommendations include staff training, multidisciplinary teams, and enhanced awareness for timely referrals.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare
- Pediatrics
- Palliative Care
Background:
- Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is a growing healthcare subspecialty.
- Concurrent curative and palliative care is recommended for children.
- Timely referral to PPC services presents ongoing challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify barriers to implementing pediatric palliative care.
- Outline recommendations for effective PPC service delivery.
- Analyze existing PPC guidelines and medical practice.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of five databases (Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL) from 1960-2015.
- No methodological restrictions were applied to the included studies.
Main Results:
- Key barriers include gaps in medical practice and limited evidence-based research.
- Recommendations focus on healthcare staff training, multidisciplinary team formation, PPC research, and awareness campaigns.
- Some studies noted a lack of clear bereavement care guidance and challenges within multidisciplinary teams.
Conclusions:
- Critical assessment of research guidelines and medical practice is essential.
- Promoting timely implementation of PPC requires addressing identified barriers.
- Enhancing PPC services necessitates improved guidance and team collaboration.
Objective:
Palliative care for children is becoming an important subspecialty of healthcare. Although concurrent administration of curative and palliative care is recommended, timely referral to pediatric palliative care (PPC) services remains problematic. This literature review aims to identify barriers and recommendations for proper implementation of palliative care for children through the looking glass of PPC guidelines.
Method:
To identify studies on PPC guidelines, five databases were searched systematically between 1960 and 2015: Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, the Web of Science, and CINAHL. No restrictions were placed on the type of methodology employed in the studies.
Results:
Concerning barriers, most of the papers focused on gaps within medical practice and the lack of evidence-based research. Common recommendations therefore included: training and education of healthcare staff, formation of a multidisciplinary PPC team, research on the benefits of PPC, and raising awareness about PPC. A small number of publications reported on the absence of clear guidance in PPC documents regarding bereavement care, as well as on the difficulties and challenges involved in multidisciplinary care teams.
Significance Of Results:
Our results indicate that a critical assessment of both the research guidelines and medical practice is required in order to promote timely implementation of PPC for pediatric patients.
More Related Videos
06:15Protocol and Guidelines for Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound in Diagnosing Neonatal Pulmonary Diseases Based on International Expert Consensus
Published on: March 6, 2019
15:18Making MR Imaging Child's Play - Pediatric Neuroimaging Protocol, Guidelines and Procedure
Published on: July 30, 2009