Children’s Palliative Care: An International Case-Based Manual

Abstract

This chapter notes that children speak three languages: body language, play language and spoken language. Talk does not solve all problems, but without talk, people are limited in their ability to help. The best way to find out what a child understands and believes is to ask the child. The discussion suggests that one should not underestimate a child: the evidence is that children usually know and understand a great deal more than parents or health workers think. Children who have long-term life-limiting illness generally go through various stages of understanding of illness, death, and dying, but the most important factor in a child's understanding is the child's own experience. It is also immoral, unethical, and legally culpable for a health worker to withhold the truth from children and families who want to hear it.