Children's palliative care team

If you have a child or young person with conditions that result in an expected shortened lifespan, we recommend that you express your wish to the attending pediatrician that a pediatric palliation team be connected.

It has been decided that every hospital that has a children's ward will have their own interdisciplinary pediatric palliation teams. These must consist of paediatricians, nurses, social worker, psychologist and possibly other professional groups (e.g. social worker, nutritionist).

The children's palliative care teams must be a place for knowledge, guidance and support for both patients, families and healthcare professionals.

Which children fall under the national guideline for child palliation?

Children who have a life-threatening illness for which there is treatment, but which does not always cure serious ailments, e.g. heart, kidney or liver failure, intestinal disease, infections and disease processes such as cancer.
Conditions where early death is inevitable: severe congenital malformations and extreme prematurity (where the child is not viable).
Progressive and often hereditary diseases, where there is only palliative treatment, such as metabolic and neuromuscular, degenerative diseases.
Conditions that do not progress, but whose severity entails a risk of early death; severe forms of cerebral palsy, extensive disabilities after brain damage and an intensive course that transitions into palliative care.

Palliation for children and young people in practice

Active, holistic, multidisciplinary treatment and follow-up of physical, psychological, social and existential needs for children and young people with life-threatening and/or life-limiting conditions
The treatment goal is always the best possible quality of life for the patient and family
Includes follow-up of parents and siblings
Starts at the time of diagnosis and includes bereavement support during the illness and after the child dies
Palliation can be offered at the same time as curative treatment

The national professional guidelines for palliative care for children and young people

In May 2015, there was one national professional guideline for child palliation. Here you can get an insight into how follow-up should be carried out in specialist health services and in municipal health and care services at different levels from the time of diagnosis, during the course of the disease, at the terminal phase (at the end of life) and after the child's death.

This guideline is due for revision in 2023.

Children's palliative care team

In the national professional guideline for child palliation (2016) it was stated:

"Each health region should set up a multidisciplinary pediatric palliative care team".

"Every children's and youth department should establish a multidisciplinary children's palliative care team".

The four major health organizations (Helse Nord, Mitt, West and Sør-East) have established regional child palliation teams, and several children's departments have set up local child palliation teams.

For the time being, there are not offers for children's palliative care teams in place at all children's departments in the country, but still ask for this so that the offer is in demand.

Carry together

The lion mothers are concerned that families should receive good help and support in the extremely demanding situation they live in, when they know that their child is going to die. For Løvemammaene, child palliation and carrying it together is about how the hospitals, municipal bodies, assistants, school, nursery school and everyone close to them can contribute to making the situation a little easier to bear for the families concerned. You can read more and get in touch with our child palliation project Carry together, and with the Løvemammaenes help service, which is an important part of Bære sammen.