In this week’s blog, the 5th and final of our CYP series, Gilda Davis @GildaMDavis, Senior Lecturer in Children’s Nursing at the University of Worcester discusses challenges affecting children’s palliative care.
When considering the future of children’s palliative care within the UK, it is recognised that an equitable palliative care service is needed (Together for Short Lives 2023). Currently the differences in the availability of children’s palliative care services vary considerably (Hakanson et al 2017; Renton et al 2018; Mitchell et al 2019), and where these services are available the provision is not consistent (Fraser, Fleming and Paslow 2018; Mitchell et al 2019; Malcolm and Knighting 2021). The National Child Maternity Database (NCMD) shows a steady increase in deaths of 0-17 year olds, with child deaths due to life limiting and life threatening conditions (LLCs and LTCs) recording significantly higher than unanticipated deaths (NCMD 2023). Whilst advances in medicine and technology have seen children who would previously have died in childhood, transitioning into adulthood, the unpredictable nature of LLCs and LTCs, means that support for their health care needs is required throughout their childhood, a “thread that runs through children’s lives” (Delamere et al 2024 p.2). As such, the services that are currently available are going to find themselves under further increasing pressure.
In considering the potential impact of providing children’s palliative and end of life care to an increasing number of children, some assumptions need to be challenged. There is a belief that the preferred place of death for adults and children is home (Ellingsen et al 2014; Pollock, 2015; Rainsford et al 2018). This belief is based on adult studies (Bluebond-Langner et al 2013; Bluebond-Langner et al 2015), and both Pollock (2015) and Rainsford et al (2018) argue that the assertion that home is the preferred place is not supported by evidence. Rather, it is suggested that the preferred place of death is a “safe” place which may or may not be home (Rainsford et al 2018; Dunbar, Carter and Brown, 2019). Where home is not felt to be a safe place, a hospice can be considered as such (Simpson and Penrose, 2011; Price, McCloskey and Brazil, 2017; Rainsford et al 2018). A recent scoping review (Davis et al 2024a) explored what factors influence the parent and/or child’s choice of place of death for a child with a non-oncological complex care condition, when death is expected. It concluded that informed discussions with families that recognise the reason for, and the impact of their choices, are necessary not only for the preferred place of death but also end of life care. An ethnophenomenological study exploring the choice of place for the death of a child with a non-oncological life limiting or life-threatening condition, used the stories of bereaved parents (Davis et al 2024b). For four of the families in this study, whose chosen place was a hospice, but where death occurred in hospital; the importance of the place of where the child died moved from being the aim, to being part of the journey, and being able to spend time as a family at a hospice (using a hospice cold bedroom for the child who had died) became the focus.
In the UK, children’s hospices actively encourage a home-like environment through the use of furnishings and the use of rooms as shared living spaces, to try to create a positive welcoming environment to where families can feel they belong (Holdsworth, 2015; Mitchell et al 2016; Dunbar, Carter and Brown, 2019). Dunbar, Carter and Brown (2019) refer to this as place bonding; where a place can be perceived as somewhere the child and family can feel safe, and to where they can “come home” (p101); a place which can offer ontological security by enabling the family to maintain their usual daily routines, whilst providing a feeling of safety with the presence of children’s nurses (Ellingsen et al 2014; Dunbar, Carter and Brown, 2019).
In challenging the assumption of home as the preferred place, the challenge for children’s palliative care is about how that choice is offered. Davis et al (2024b) identified the importance of discussion that clinical staff have with children, parents and families, and how this can impact not only their preferred place to die, but also their end of life care. Other implications for practice include how the outcome of these conversations can impact on the grief journey of the parent (Davis et al 2024b).
Recognition needs to be given to the complimentary roles of children’s hospice teams and community paediatric palliative care teams, and their parts in the palliative care (Delamere et al 2024 p.2). The need for increased funding in children’s palliative care has long been recognised (Together for Short Lives 2024), but consideration also needs to be given to how this is presented across the children’s palliative care sector.
References
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Bluebond-Langner, M., Beecham, E. and Jones, L. (2015) ‘Problems with preference and place of death for children too’, BMJ, (19th November), p. 1. DOI:10.1136/bmj.h6123.
Bogetz, J. et al (2020) “I could never prepare for something like the death of my own child”: Parental perspectives on preparedness at end of life for children with complex chronic conditions death, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(6), pp1154-1162. DOI:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.035.
Davis, G., Gaskin, K., Molnár, G., & Bentley, J. (2024a). Places of Farewell: A Scoping Review Exploring Factors Influencing the Choice of Place of Death for Children when Death is Expected. Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, 47(3), 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694193.2024.2374239
Davis G, Molnar G, Bentley J, Gaskin K (2024b) Places of farewell – bereaved parents’ decision making about their child’s place of death, Evidence Based Nursing available at: https://blogs.bmj.com/ebn/2024/02/11/places-of-farewell-bereaved-parents-decision-making-about-their-childs-place-of-death/ (accessed 27/9/24)
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Together for Short Lives (2023) A Manifesto for Palliative and End of Life Care https://www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk/changing-lives/speaking-up-for-children/policy-advocacy/a-manifesto-for-palliative-and-end-of-life-care/ (accessed 22/09/24).
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