Transitions to and from the acute inpatient care setting for children with life-threatening illness.

Children with life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) are hospitalized more often and spend more days in the hospital than children without LTIs. Hospitalizations may be associated with changes in health status of children with LTIs and thus alter their care needs significantly. Transitional care is particularly relevant for this population. Pediatric palliative care clinicians and teams are well-positioned to improve transitional care of children with LTIs by facilitating communication between clinicians and educating clinicians about issues related to children with LTIs.

Nageswaran S ，Radulovic A ，Anania A 《-》

Pediatric hospital care for children with life-threatening illness and the role of palliative care.

Under increasing pressure to contain costs, hospitals are challenged to provide high-quality care to an increasingly complex group of children with life-threatening illness (LTI) that often worsen over time. Pediatric palliative care is an essential component of optimal hospital care delivery for these children and their families. This article describes (1) the current landscape of pediatric hospital care for children with LTI, (2) the connection between palliative care and hospital care for such children, and (3) the relationship between health care reform and palliative care for children with LTI.

Bogetz JF ，Ullrich CK ，Berry JG 《-》

Improving quality of life in hospitalized children.

There are many ways to add to children's quality of life within the hospital environment. Inpatient settings offer both opportunities and challenges with respect to providing care to children with life-threatening illnesses. The barriers to pediatric palliative care (PPC) on hospital wards, as with those in other settings, frequently stem from misconceptions. However, some barriers are intensified by characteristics of acute inpatient centers. Yet some characteristics of the inpatient setting, including the availability of human resources and unique interventions, offer creative ways to ease distress and improve quality of life for children and their families.

Rapoport A ，Weingarten K 《-》

Adolescents and young adults with life-threatening illness: special considerations, transitions in care, and the role of pediatric palliative care.

This article will cover the special considerations, challenges, and opportunities presented by caring for adolescents and young adults with life-threatening illnesses when the possibility of transition to an adult care setting arises.

Linebarger JS ，Ajayi TA ，Jones BL 《-》

Factors Associated With the Use of U.S. Community-Based Palliative Care for Children With Life-Limiting or Life-Threatening Illnesses and Their Families: An Integrative Review.

As children with life-limiting illnesses (LLIs) and life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) live longer, challenges to meeting their complex health care needs arise in homes and communities, as well as in hospitals. Integrated knowledge regarding community-based pediatric palliative care (CBPPC) is needed to strategically plan for a seamless continuum of care for children and their families. The purpose of this integrative review article is to explore factors that are associated with the use of CBPPC for U.S. children with LLIs and LTIs and their families. A literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Google Scholar, and an ancestry search was performed to identify empirical studies and program evaluations published between 2000 and 2016. The methodological protocol included an evaluation of empirical quality and explicit data collection of synthesis procedures. Forty peer-reviewed quantitative and qualitative methodological interdisciplinary articles were included in the final sample. Patient characteristics such as older age and a solid tumor cancer diagnosis and interpersonal factors such as family support were associated with higher CBPPC use. Organizational features were the most frequently discussed factors that increased CBPPC, including the importance of interprofessional hospice services and interorganizational care coordination for supporting the child and family at home. Finally, geography, concurrent care and hospice eligibility regulations, and funding and reimbursement mechanisms were associated with CBPPC use on a community and systemic level. Multilevel factors are associated with increased CBPPC use for children with LLIs or LTIs and their families in the U.S.

Boyden JY ，Curley MAQ ，Deatrick JA ，Ersek M ... -  《-》