Pediatric palliative care for medically complex children

What is it about?

This commentary discusses the rationale for integrating pediatric palliative care services into the treatment plan for children with medical complexity. We then detail actions and strategies palliative care specialists can take to best support the patient- and family-centered medical homes, as "medical neighbors," established for these children. Lastly, we describe the concept of "primary pediatric palliative care" - the core components of pediatric palliative care that all clinicians who treat medically complex children should be competent in.

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Why is it important?

We apply the "medical neighborhood" framework to the fields of pediatric palliative care and pediatric complex care. We provide direct actions palliative care specialists can take to best integrate their interdisciplinary team with the complex care medical home. We also apply the concept of "primary palliative care" to the field of pediatrics, specifically pediatric complex care and establish milestones and competencies that pediatric clinicians should strive for.