Paediatric palliative care: Distinctive needs and emerging issues

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 c..