Exploring the Benefits of Palliative Care on Young Adults

https://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ugresearch/2018/2018all/14/thumbnail.jpgIn the last ten years, palliative care has grown extensively in the United States. “According to the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, (2013), palliative care is patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering” for people with life-limiting illnesses. Existing research on palliative care in adult populations shows that patients who receive palliative care services have lower rates of depression/anxiety, reduced pain, and higher quality of life. Despite the known benefits of palliative care for adults, little research explores the impact of palliative care on the lives of children with serious illness. Based on informal and formal interviews with pediatric palliative care health care workers, young adults with serious illness, and my own experiences interning with a Child Life Specialist in the palliative care team at a local hospital; I suggest that palliative care has an important impact on the well-being of children affected by life-limiting illness. https://www.nhpco.org/sites/default/files/public/quality/Pediatric_Facts-Figures.pdf