Adult specialist palliative care services caring for children in the community: a scoping review.

Abstract

Background: Adult specialist palliative care professionals have played a key role in the care of children with palliative care needs in the community. However, there is little known on their perceived level of preparedness or training in providing children's palliative care in the community setting. The aim of this scoping review is to appraise the current literature and identify any existing gaps in knowledge on the level of preparedness and training of adult specialist palliative care professionals caring for children in the community. The review question asks: "Do adult specialist palliative care professionals feel sufficiently prepared to deliver their services to children in the community?".

Methods: In order to address the review question, a scoping review was conducted. This was guided by the framework of Arksey and O'Malley and further enhanced by the methodology of the Joanna Brigg's Institute in order to report the findings.

Results: Twenty studies were identified from the database searches. Common areas identified from the literature were that adult specialist palliative care professionals perceived that they had a lack of training or experience in children's palliative care, lack of knowledge or preparedness, and that they faced barriers preventing them from providing effective children's palliative care.

Conclusion: This review highlights the lack of empirical research on adult specialist palliative care professionals providing children's palliative care in the community. While the available literature demonstrates both their limited training, experience and preparedness in caring for children.