Apr 22, 2020
The palliative care needs of infants, children and young people
differ to those of adults. The broad spectrum of paediatric
life-limiting or life-threatening conditions mean that
symptoms are varied and complex to manage. The UK National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has emphasised pain
management in paediatric palliative care as a research
priority. This is the first systematic review and
meta-analysis to investigate and report on the barriers and
facilitators experienced by carers and healthcare
professionals when managing paediatric symptoms at end of
life. Healthcare professionals’ attitudes, treatment and its
side effects, place of care and families’ own symptom
management strategies all impact on family caregivers’ ability to
manage symptoms. Barriers and facilitators to symptom
management for healthcare professionals include medicine
access, treatment efficacy and side effects, specialist support,
training and education, health services delivery and home care.