Pediatric Palliative Care: Insights into Assessment Tools and Review Instruments
The proper assessment of needs and outcomes in pediatric palliative care (PPC) is imperative<br>to ensure the best possible service to patients and families. However, given the multidimensional<br>nature of PPC, the low number of patients in this setting, the heterogeneity of diseases, t...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
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MDPI AG,
2023-08-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | The proper assessment of needs and outcomes in pediatric palliative care (PPC) is imperative<br>to ensure the best possible service to patients and families. However, given the multidimensional<br>nature of PPC, the low number of patients in this setting, the heterogeneity of diseases, the presence<br>of cognitive impairment in many patients, and the physiological development of children, outcomes<br>can be complex and difficult to measure. Consequently, in this context, the use of standardized<br>and validated tools to assess the needs of children and families, to assess symptom severity, and<br>to estimate the quality of PPC service represent a current need. Even if efforts have been made to<br>standardize approaches and tools for palliative care in adults, to our knowledge, a similar comprehensive<br>assessment of PPC has not yet been conducted to date. This narrative review provides an<br>overview and discusses the evaluation of tools currently applied in PPC, with an educational intent<br>for healthcare providers. We found that several instruments are available to assess different dimensions<br>of PPC. We proposed a classification into eligibility tools, patient and family needs assessment<br>tools, and care assessment tools. At present, two main eligibility tools exist, the PaPaS Scale and the<br>ACCAPED Scale questionnaire. Most of the tools for patient and family needs assessment have not<br>been specifically validated in the PPC setting, and many may be more readily applied in research<br>settings rather than in daily practice. Similar considerations can be made for tools assessing QoL,<br>while tools assessing PPC service quality seem to be easily applied. Efforts to develop new specific<br>tools and validate existing ones are undoubtedly advocated. However, in the patient's best interest,<br>PPC healthcare providers should start using available tools, regardless of their validation status. |
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| Item Description: | 10.3390/children10081406 2227-9067 |