Correction: A multi-stage process to develop quality indicators for community-based palliative care using interRAI data.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Research staff's experiences of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted recruitment for a paediatric network study.

Purpose: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a paediatric network study with clinical sites across Canada suffered a reduction in participation. When research studies fail to meet enrolment targets, it can reduce the strength and validity of the results. This study explores research staff's experiences of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted recruitment for a paediatric network study.

Intensity of end-of-life care among children with life-threatening conditions: a national population-based observational study.

Background: Children with life-threatening conditions frequently experience high intensity care at the end of life, though most of this research only focused on children with cancer. Some research suggests inequities in care provided based on age, disease type, socioeconomic status, and distance that the child lives from a tertiary hospital. We examined: 1) the prevalence of indicators of high intensity end-of-life care (e.

Location of death among children with life-threatening conditions: a national population-based observational study using the Canadian Vital Statistics Database (2008-2014).

Background: Patterns in location of death among children with life-threatening conditions (e.g., cancer, genetic disorders, neurologic conditions) may reveal important inequities in access to hospital and community support services.

Evaluation of children with severe neurological impairment admitted to hospital with pain and irritability.

Background: Pain is the most common symptom reported by caregivers of children with severe neurological impairment (SNI), a descriptive term for children with disorders affecting the neurological system across multiple domains. In SNI, cognition, communication, and motor skills are impaired and other organ systems are impacted. Pain is difficult to identify and treat in children with SNI because of communication impairment.

Use of the interRAI PEDS HC in children receiving home care in Ontario, Canada.

Background: There is no standard assessment tool for pediatric home care recipients in Canada, limiting the availability of comparable, population-based data. The objective of this study was to describe pediatric home care recipients who were part of a pilot implementation of the interRAI Pediatric Home Care Assessment Form (PEDS-HC) among medically complex children referred to home care agencies in three regions in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: All 14 agencies providing home care to children in Ontario were invited to participate in the pilot project, and 9 participated in an education session.

Interventions for Grieving and Bereaved Informal Caregivers: A Scoping Review of the Canadian Literature.

The palliative approach to care is playing a larger role in the healthcare of older adults in Canada. Within (hospice) palliative care, informal caregivers play a crucial role as part of the interdisciplinary care team. Ensuring high quality palliative care includes providing effective grief and bereavement supports for them.

A multi-stage process to develop quality indicators for community-based palliative care using interRAI data.

Background: Individuals receiving palliative care (PC) are generally thought to prefer to receive care and die in their homes, yet little research has assessed the quality of home- and community-based PC. This project developed a set of valid and reliable quality indicators (QIs) that can be generated using data that are already gathered with interRAI assessments-an internationally validated set of tools commonly used in North America for home care clients. The QIs can serve as decision-support measures to assist providers and decision makers in delivering optimal care to individuals and their families.

The interRAI Child and Youth Suite of Mental Health Assessment Instruments: An Integrated Approach to Mental Health Service Delivery.

Various biological, social, psychological, and environmental factors impact children and youth living with mental health problems across their lifespan. To meet the wide-ranging challenges of mental illness, service system integration is needed to improve efficiencies and reduce fragmentation. Unfortunately, the mental health system has been plagued by the lack of coordination across services.

Support for Informal Caregivers in Canada: A Scoping Review from a Hospice and Palliative/End-of-Life Care Lens.

Informal caregivers (ICs) providing care for those at the end-of-life face physical, psycho-social, emotional, and/or financial challenges. However, there is a paucity of research towards the effectiveness of available interventions for this vulnerable population. The purpose of this scoping review was to investigate the availability and efficacy of interventions for ICs providing hospice and palliative/end-of-life care in Canada.

Children's Health Care Utilization and Cost in the Last Year of Life: A Cohort Comparison with and without Regional Specialist Pediatric Palliative Care.

Research remains inconclusive regarding the impact of specialist pediatric palliative care (SPPC) on health care utilization and cost. To better understand and quantify the impact of regional SPPC services on children's health care utilization and cost near end of life. A retrospective cohort study used administrative databases to compare outcomes for child decedents (age 31 days to 19 years) from two similar regions in Ontario, Canada between 2010 and 2014, wherein one region had SPPC services (SPPC+) and the other did not (SPPC-).

The Grief and Bereavement Experiences of Informal Caregivers: A Scoping Review of the North American Literature.

Informal caregivers are a significant part of the hospice and palliative care landscape as members of the interdisciplinary care team. Despite this, little is known about the impact this responsibility has on informal caregivers' experiences of grief and bereavement. To address this, a scoping review of the literature was conducted to explore the current state of knowledge toward grief and bereavement of informal caregivers of adult/geriatric patients in the hospice and palliative/end-of-life care realm within North America.

Medications to manage infant pain, distress and end-of-life symptoms in the immediate postpartum period.

Introduction: Perinatal palliative care (PnPC) is a growing field where healthcare providers from multiple disciplines are supporting families and providing holistic care for their babies with life-limiting illnesses. It is important to have an approach that includes the standardized management of end-of-life symptoms that are anticipated around the time of birth.

Areas Covered: A need was identified to develop medication orders for the initial pharmacological management of symptoms at end-of-life for infants with life-limiting conditions intended for use outside of an intensive care setting.

Informal Caregiving for People With Life-Limiting Illness: Exploring the Knowledge Gaps.

People with life-limiting illness are increasingly having more care provided to them by informal caregivers (ICs) such as family members and friends. Although there is a substantial amount of literature surrounding informal caregiving, there is a paucity of research from a hospice palliative care angle. To address this knowledge gap, this scoping review explored the effects of/challenges to informal caregiving at the end of life in Canada.

Pediatric Project ECHO: A Virtual Community of Practice to Improve Palliative Care Knowledge and Self-Efficacy among Interprofessional Health Care Providers.

Health care providers (HCPs) require ongoing training and mentorship to fully appreciate the palliative care needs of children. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a model for delivering technology-enabled interprofessional education and cultivating a community of practice among HCPs who care for children with life-limiting illness. To develop, implement, and evaluate the Project ECHO model within the pediatric palliative care (PPC) context.

Adaptation and Feasibility of the interRAI Family Carer Needs Assessment in a Pediatric Setting.

Family carers of children with serious illness contribute many hours of medical care in addition to usual daily care. Assessing the needs and supports of family carers is not routine practice. This study is the first to utilize the interRAI Family Carer Needs Assessment in carers of children, seeking to evaluate and improve its ability to capture their needs.

Predictors of Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care Involvement and Impact on Patterns of End-of-Life Care in Children With Cancer.

Purpose The impact of specialized pediatric palliative care (SPPC) teams on patterns of end-of-life care is unknown. We sought to determine (1) which children with cancer access SPPC and (2) the impact of accessing SPPC on the risk of experiencing high-intensity end-of-life care (intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital death). Methods Using a provincial childhood cancer registry, we assembled a retrospective cohort of Ontario children with cancer who died between 2000 and 2012 and received care through pediatric institutions with an SPPC team.

The Validity of Using Health Administrative Data To Identify the Involvement of Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care Teams in Children with Cancer in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Population-based research to identify underserviced populations and the impact of palliative care (PC) is limited as the validity of such data to identify PC services is largely unknown.

Objective: To determine the validity of using such data to identify the involvement of specialized pediatric PC teams among children with cancer.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Challenges of research recruitment in a university setting in England.

The recruitment is an integral part of most research projects in medical sciences involving human participants. In health promotion research, there is increasing work on the impact of environments. Settings represent environments such as schools where social, physical and psychological development unfolds.

Pediatric palliative care in Canada in 2012: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Background: Pediatric palliative care focuses on comprehensive symptom management and enhancing quality of life for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Our aim was to describe Canadian programs that provided specialized pediatric palliative care in 2012 and the children who received it and to estimate the proportion of children who might benefit that received specialized care.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used.

Erratum to: Freshman 15 in England: a longitudinal evaluation of first year university student's weight change.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40608-016-0125-1.].

Freshman 15 in England: a longitudinal evaluation of first year university student's weight change.

Background: Weight change in first year university students, often referred to as 'Freshman 15', has been shown to be a common problem in North America. Studies have reported weight gain to be between 1 kg and 4 kg over the academic year and a recent meta-analysis found a mean gain of 1.34 kg and that 61 % of students gained weight.