A Comparison of Circumstances at the End of Life in a Hospital Setting for Children With Palliative Care Involvement Versus Those Without.

Context: Specialized pediatric palliative care (PPC) services have become more common in urban pediatric hospital settings, although little is known about palliative care specialist involvement.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare circumstances before death in children who spent their last days of life in an inpatient pediatric hospital setting, with or without PPC provider involvement during their inpatient stay.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of medical records of children for the last inpatient stay that resulted in death at a children's hospital setting between January 2012 through June 2013.

Developing competencies for pediatric hospice and palliative medicine.

In 2006, hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) became an officially recognized subspecialty. This designation helped initiate the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education Outcomes Project in HPM. As part of this process, a group of expert clinician-educators in HPM defined the initial competency-based outcomes for HPM fellows (General HPM Competencies).

Improved quality of life at end of life related to home-based palliative care in children with cancer.

Background: Nearly 2000 children die due to a malignancy in the United States annually. Emerging data suggest that home is the desired location of care for children with cancer at end of life. However, one obstacle to enrollment in a pediatric palliative care (PPC) home care program may be fear that distressing symptoms at end of life cannot be adequately managed outside the hospital.

Long-term psychosocial outcomes among bereaved siblings of children with cancer.

Context: The death of a child from cancer affects the entire family. Little is known about the long-term psychosocial outcomes of bereaved siblings.

Objectives: To describe 1) the prevalence of risky health behaviors, psychological distress, and social support among bereaved siblings and 2) potentially modifiable factors associated with poor outcomes.

Exposure to home-based pediatric palliative and hospice care and its impact on hospital and emergency care charges at a single institution.

Background: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) aims to promote quality of life for children and their families through prevention and relief of physical and psychosocial symptoms. Little is known about how PPC/hospice services impact health care resource utilization in an uncertain financial landscape.

Objective: The study objective was to compare pediatric hospital health care resource utilization before and after enrollment in a home PPC/hospice program.

Pediatric palliative care patients: a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Objective: To describe demographic and clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients who received hospital-based pediatric palliative care (PPC) consultations.

Design, Setting, And Patients: Prospective observational cohort study of all patients served by 6 hospital-based PPC teams in the United States and Canada from January to March 2008.

Results: There were 515 new (35.

A phase I clinical trial of the hu14.18-IL2 (EMD 273063) as a treatment for children with refractory or recurrent neuroblastoma and melanoma: a study of the Children's Oncology Group.

Purpose: Evaluate the clinical safety, toxicity, immune activation/modulation, and maximal tolerated dose of hu14.18-IL2 (EMD 273063) in pediatric patients with recurrent/refractory neuroblastoma and other GD2-positive solid tumors.

Experimental Design: Twenty-seven pediatric patients with recurrent/refractory neuroblastoma and one with melanoma were treated with a humanized anti-GD2 monoclonal antibody linked to human interleukin 2 (IL-2).