Pediatric Palliative Care
About a week ago I attended an information session regarding pediatric palliative care. My experience and knowledge regarding palliative care prior to going to this session was very limited. During my three years working in early intervention I've only had one situation with a little boy who was receiving palliative care. From all that I saw and heard about their service, I knew that it had been a very positive experience for both the family and the child. The little boy was extremely ill and did pass away before the age of three from his illness; however I believe that the difficult days and months leading up to his death were eased by the presence of the palliative care providers.
So what is pediatric palliative care?
According to the Get Palliative Care Organization: Like palliative care for adults, it (pediatric) focuses on comfort. It works to relieve physical, emotional, social, and spiritual suffering in facing curative treatments. But palliative care for children differs from adult care in some important ways.
Children are resilient. Serious illness in childhood is rare and the course of disease often can't be predicted. A child may recover from a serious illness after seeming very near to death.
The website then goes on to explain that: Palliative care is NOT the same as hospice care. Palliative care may be provided at any time during a person`s illness, even from the time of diagnosis. And, it may be given at the same time as curative treatment.
Hospice care always provides palliative care. However, it is focused on terminally ill patients-people who no longer seek treatments to cure them and who are expected to live for about six months or less.
Among the people who are able to be part of a palliative care team, Speech Language Pathologists can be a participating member, as well as PT's and OT's, Bereavement Counselors, Medical Social Worker, Medical Director, RN Case Manager, a Chaplain/Rabbi and a Creative Arts and/or Complementary Therapist(s).
I wanted to share this information with our readers today for two reasons. One is to let you know that if you feel the pull to work with children in their home who are exceptionally ill, as a speech therapist you are able to become part of a palliative care team. I believe this is a very special job for individuals that can professionally, emotionally and spiritually handle the challenges that this type of work can evoke.
The second reason is to spread the news about palliative care to families who may be dealing with a possibly terminally ill child. If the family is not ready for hospice, palliative care may be the perfect solution. Care is brought to the home and focuses on holistic treatment so that the whole patient is being treated. Due to the high level of comprehensive service that palliative care provides, patients are often able to avoid frequent trips to the hospital and many are able to grow stronger while at home and overcome the illness that they are battling.
For more information please visit The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website at: www.nhpco.org/templates/1/homepage