Paediatric palliative care: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Palliative Care
• Knowledge Translation
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Paediatric palliative care necessitates specialized expertise and dedicated services.
• Effective knowledge translation is essential for advancing paediatric palliative care.
• The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in the Health Services (PARiHS) framework, now updated as i-PARiHS, guides this process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing literature on evidence, context, and facilitation in paediatric palliative care knowledge translation.
• To describe knowledge translation processes within paediatric palliative care using the i-PARiHS framework.
• To identify strategies that facilitate knowledge translation in this specialized field.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple electronic databases (AgeLine, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus).
• Included studies were published in English or Swedish between 1993 and August 2019.
• All observational and experimental study designs were considered.

Main Results:

• Thirty-eight articles were synthesized, revealing a consensus on the timing and delivery of paediatric palliative care.
• The i-PARiHS framework effectively described knowledge translation in this context.
• Symptom relief emerged as the primary evidence-based strategy, with hospital settings being the most frequent context. Education was the predominant facilitation strategy.

Conclusions:

• The findings underscore the importance of symptom management and educational interventions for paediatric palliative care.
• The hospital environment plays a significant role in the context of paediatric palliative care delivery.
• The study provides a guideline for facilitating knowledge translation in paediatric palliative care, primarily focusing on enhancing knowledge within the field.