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Review
. 2020 Feb 28;22(2):e16248.
doi: 10.2196/16248.

Home-Based Pediatric Palliative Care and Electronic Health: Systematic Mixed Methods Review

Heidi Holmen  1 , Kirsti Riiser  1 , Anette Winger  1
Affiliations
Review

Home-Based Pediatric Palliative Care and Electronic Health: Systematic Mixed Methods Review

Heidi Holmen et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Children and families in pediatric palliative care depend on close contact with health care personnel, and electronic health (eHealth) is suggested to support care at home by facilitating their remote interactions.

Objective: This study aimed to identify and review the use of eHealth to communicate and support home-based pediatric palliative care and appraise the methodological quality of the published research.

Methods: We conducted a convergent, systematic mixed methods review and searched Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline), EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, and Scopus for eligible papers. Studies evaluating 2-way communication technology for palliative care for children aged ≤18 years and applying quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods from 2012 to 2018 were eligible for inclusion. Quantitative and qualitative studies were equally valued during the search, screening, extraction, and analysis. Quantitative data were transformed into qualitative data and analyzed using a thematic analysis. Overall, 2 independent researchers methodologically appraised all included studies.

Results: We identified 1277 citations. Only 7 papers were eligible for review. Evaluating eHealth interventions in pediatric palliative care poses specific methodological and ethical challenges. eHealth to facilitate remote pediatric palliative care was acknowledged both as an intrusion and as a support at home. Reluctance toward eHealth was mainly identified among professionals.

Conclusions: The strengths of the conclusions are limited by the studies' methodological challenges. Despite the limitless possibilities held by new technologies, research on eHealth in home-based pediatric palliative care is scarce. The affected children and families appeared to hold positive attitudes toward eHealth, although their views were less apparent compared with those of the professionals.

Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42018119051; https://tinyurl.com/rtsw5ky.

Keywords: children; communication; eHealth; family; home-based; palliative care; pediatric; pediatric palliative care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the systematic search process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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