Partnerships between pediatric palliative care and psychiatry.
Children with life-threatening illnesses and their families may face physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual challenges throughout the children's course of illness. Pediatric palliative care is designed to meet such challenges. Given the psychosocial and emotional needs of children and their families it is clear that psychiatrists can, and do, play a role in delivering pediatric palliative care. In this article the partnership between pediatric palliative care and psychiatry is explored. The authors present an overview of pediatric palliative care followed by a summary of some of the roles for psychiatry. Two innovative pediatric palliative care programs that psychiatrists may or may not be aware of are described. Finally, some challenges that are faced in further developing this partnership and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Knapp
Caprice
C
Departments of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. capricegaring@hotmail.com
Madden
Vanessa
V
Button
Daniel
D
Brown
Rebecca
R
Hastie
Barbara
B
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D011584:Psychology; D012801:Sibling Relations