Thursday, April 22, 2004
New England Journal of Medicine article advocates palliative care
[Sarah Treffinger, "Doctor urges palliative care for sick kids," The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 22 April 2004.]
Following on the heels of recent research showing the cost-savings from moving to palliative care, more physicians in the U.S. are beginning to tout its benefits:
The half-million children who cope with life- threatening conditions each year in the United States require care for more than just their physical needs.
Caregivers also must meet the social, psychological and spiritual needs of profoundly ill kids, according to an article in today's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Joanne Hilden of the Cleveland Clinic, one of the authors, said she wants to see palliative care become part of mainstream care for seriously ill and dying children. She believes it works best when it goes hand-in-hand with curative therapy, even when a patient's prognosis is uncertain.
"Kids are so strong," said Hilden, chairwoman of the Clinic's Department of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology and director of Pediatric Palliative Care at its Children's Hospital. "You don't know who is going to make it through what, so you plan for both."
Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, called the article "critically important."
[See the archived entry, "Palliative Care: Providing comfort to the dying," 22 March 2004.]
[Sarah Treffinger, "Doctor urges palliative care for sick kids," The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 22 April 2004.]
Following on the heels of recent research showing the cost-savings from moving to palliative care, more physicians in the U.S. are beginning to tout its benefits:
The half-million children who cope with life- threatening conditions each year in the United States require care for more than just their physical needs.
Caregivers also must meet the social, psychological and spiritual needs of profoundly ill kids, according to an article in today's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Joanne Hilden of the Cleveland Clinic, one of the authors, said she wants to see palliative care become part of mainstream care for seriously ill and dying children. She believes it works best when it goes hand-in-hand with curative therapy, even when a patient's prognosis is uncertain.
"Kids are so strong," said Hilden, chairwoman of the Clinic's Department of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology and director of Pediatric Palliative Care at its Children's Hospital. "You don't know who is going to make it through what, so you plan for both."
Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, called the article "critically important."
[See the archived entry, "Palliative Care: Providing comfort to the dying," 22 March 2004.]
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