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Unidentified paediatric palliative needs: use of the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale
Catarina Sofia Rodrigues Preto1, Luís Miguel Pereira Condeço2
1Paediatric Nurse Practitioner, Unidade Local de Saúde de Castelo Branco, Portugal.
Insights
A screening tool identified 20% of children with complex chronic conditions eligible for paediatric palliative care. Early integration of such tools improves care quality and family support.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Palliative Care Research
- Healthcare Quality Improvement
Background:
- Paediatric palliative care is crucial for children and adolescents with complex, life-limiting conditions, requiring continuous support from diagnosis through life and beyond.
- Early identification and referral are key to ensuring comprehensive care for these vulnerable populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify children and adolescents with complex chronic conditions at a Portuguese healthcare unit eligible for paediatric palliative care referral.
- To assess the utility of a screening tool in identifying potential candidates for palliative care services.
Main Methods:
- An exploratory, descriptive quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted.
- The Portuguese version of the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale was used.
- 397 children and adolescents attending a paediatric developmental consultation were screened; 10 met inclusion criteria and were interviewed.
Main Results:
- The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale identified 2 participants (20%) who would benefit from referral to paediatric palliative care.
- This highlights the potential of systematic screening in routine clinical practice.
Conclusions:
- Integrating systematic screening tools like the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale into routine consultations can facilitate earlier referral to palliative care.
- This improves the quality of care and support provided to children and their families.
Background:
Paediatric palliative care should be provided to children and adolescents with complex chronic, life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, from the time of diagnosis, throughout the life course and beyond death, ensuring continuity of care.
Aims:
To identify children and adolescents with complex chronic conditions at a Portuguese healthcare unit who may be eligible for referral to paediatric palliative care.
Methods:
An exploratory, descriptive quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted, using the Portuguese version of the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale. A total of 397 children and adolescents attending a paediatric developmental consultation were included in the study. Of these, 10 participants met the study's inclusion criteria and were assessed through telephone interviews with their parents.
Findings:
The use of the screening tool enabled the identification of two participants (20%) who would benefit from referral.
Conclusions:
Integrating systematic tools, such as the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale, into routine consultations may enable earlier referral to palliative care, improving quality of care and support for families.
Implications For Practice:
Routine use of referral tools combined with improved palliative care literacy and communication may facilitate earlier identification of children with palliative care needs and more timely referral to specialist services. Future development of more holistic referral tools that incorporate functional, psychosocial and symptom-related needs could support more equitable, person-centred paediatric palliative care.