Guidelines available for terminally ill children

The American Academy of Pediatrics has outlined recommendations for providing palliative care to terminally ill children.

Each year, 53,000 children in the United States die from trauma, extreme prematurity, hereditary disorders, and other conditions, according to the Elk Grove Village, IL-based organization. Children’s needs are different than those of adults, and medical professionals are obligated to ensure that suffering is minimized and medical technology is used when the benefit to the child outweighs the burden, the organization states.

Start care upon diagnosis

Some of the recommendations recently announced include:

• Development of widely available palliative care and respite programs to alleviate suffering and promote the welfare of children and their families living with life-threatening or terminal conditions.

• Implementation of a comprehensive palliative care program from the time a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening or terminal condition to complement life-prolonging care, as well as assist if it becomes clear that the child will not survive.

• Changes in the regulation of palliative care to allow broader eligibility criteria, equitable reimbursement of simultaneous life-prolonging and palliative care, and respite care and other therapies beyond those currently mandated.