Due to advances in medical treatments, students with terminal illnesses are more likely to attend public schools, increasing the possibility that they may die on school property. However, educational health plans often fail to consider end-of-life care decisions. In the absence of federal or state statutes, school boards are left to navigate the…

This viewpoint describes the case of a 4-year-old boy's journey in art therapy after his cancer had returned, which despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, ultimately claimed his life. The patient and his family participated in art therapy over the course of 18 months. As an integrated, palliative component of treatment, art therapy helped…

This study elicited the experiences of nurses caring for children with life-limiting conditions and their family, within a community based intellectual disability service. A qualitative descriptive research approach was adopted where purposeful sampling recruited 10 participants. Data was collected using one to one semi-structured interviews and…

Purpose: The response of each child to terminal illness treatment is highly individual. This will certainly affect the level and type of perceived needs. This study is conducted to examine the needs of children with terminal illness from the perspective of nurses and parents. Method: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in this research.…

This article contributes to a growing literature that takes a more nuanced approach to exploring the complexities of relationships and negotiations with gatekeepers. Using our study of young people living with a parent at the end of life as a 'critical case' of sensitive qualitative research, we discuss how far from being a smooth, linear process,…

Drama is a promising means of delivering educational messages in palliative care. Research studies have found drama to be an effective means of delivering educational messages in other domains of learning, such as teaching health education to children and adults and engaging the general public in health policy development. This paper discusses the…

Functional Measurement (FM) has been applied to a variety of settings that can be considered as "extreme" settings; that is, settings involving participants with severe cognitive disabilities or involving unusual stimulus material. FM has, as instance, been successfully applied for analyzing (a) numerosity judgments among children as…

Few resources seem to be available to support school communities that have a child whose death is anticipated. The present article draws on the experiences of school staff and special education employees who have been involved in New Zealand school communities where a child was terminally ill and died. These experiences could help other school…

Presents concept of dying as a developmental stage in the life of terminally ill children. Sees dying as a normal developmental process in which the child focuses on appreciating and prizing the moment rather than preparing for something yet to come. Discusses communication with the dying child and use of the language of play. (Author/NB)

A review of studies on death awareness among children who are healthy, chronically ill, and terminally ill reveals that children with life-threatening diseases demonstrate increased understanding of death. In contrast, healthy and chronically ill children appear to require certain age, cognitive development level, or intelligence thresholds to…

Notes that International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement recognizes wide variation of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors pertaining to childhood death, dying, and bereavement. Statement identifies set of assumptions which can serve as guidelines, across cultures, in care of children with terminal illness and their families. (Author/NB)

Offers several of the author's (a pediatric oncologist) poems and reflections on his poetry in relation to his work with dying children. (SR)

Discusses problems experienced by families who have child who is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive or who has Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), noting that child with HIV/AIDS in family usually means at least one parent also has HIV/AIDS. Urges professionals to think of family, rather than individual, and to plan services for…

This paper reviews research literature pertaining to the pain and anxiety associated with pediatric cancer and the use of hypnosis as an adjunct treatment. It is noted that pain and anxiety are most often associated with the procedural treatment of cancer, and that the literature suggests that both pain and anxiety are multi-faceted constructs.…

Examined coping and family adaptation in siblings (n=32) of cancer patients, their ill brothers and sisters (n=19), and control group of nonclinical children (n=10) with healthy siblings. Gender and age of sibling, birth order, and number of siblings were examined. Found better adaptation in larger families and decreased family involvement among…