Palliative sedation in children and adolescents: The repercussion in the family

Abstract

Background: Estimative demonstrate about 6% of the 20 million people needing palliative care at the end of their life are less than 15 years old. Despite of that, researchers reported several areas of parent dissatisfaction with care including confusing, inadequate, or uncaring communications with clinicians regarding treatment or prognosis of the child's end of life. Objective: Here we show that about 90% of the families that have a child or an adolescent passing through a situation that needs Palliative Sedation think that this process was necessary to relieve the suffering of the patient. Results: In several reports, parents of terminally ill children describe their perceptions of uncaring and insufficient communication from health care professionals and link that communication with their own lingering regrets and emotional distress. Conclusion: There is the necessity to better capacity the supportive and care team, in order to diminish guilty and grieve feelings, and to provide courses to the care team that can develop the communication process among them and the family.