title: 'Fighting for care': parents' perspectives of children's palliative care in South Tyrol, Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children's palliative care in Italy develops comparatively slowly. Recent legislation is enabling, but foundational research exploring parental experiences and perceptions is lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the experiences and perceptions of parents in South Tyrol, Italy regarding caring for a child with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mixed qualitative design incorporated both an online survey and parent interviews. Using purposive sampling, 13 parents undertook 9 interviews and 7 parents completed the survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors highlight a major parental theme describing difficult relationships with health services requiring them to 'fight the system' for services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors raise a disturbing possibility that such 'fighting the system' is now so widely recognised worldwide that it cannot be considered to be accidental.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors recommend the establishment of a specialist, dedicated paediatric palliative care service in South Tyrol with the international recognised values and operating standards that would render such parental 'fighting' unnecessary.
authors.affiliation: Professor of Nursing, Flinders and Monash universities, Australia.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Darbyshire
authors.affiliation: Professor of Nursing, University of Applied Science Ravensburg-Weingarten, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mischo-Kelling
authors.affiliation: Medical Tutor, at Claudiana College of Health-Care Professions, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lochner
authors.affiliation: Pyschologist, at Claudiana College of Health-Care Professions, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Messerschmidt-Grandi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Children's palliative care; Fighting for care; Italy; Paediatric palliative care; Parents' experiences