Pediatric palliative care in Sweden

Abstract

In Sweden, the governance of healthcare is decentralized, so PC is provided with regional or local differences in organization, level of competence, and recourses. Ongoing regional and national initiative to increase quality of pediatric palliative care in Sweden aligns with the international standard of pediatric palliative care as a care directed towards all children with life-threatening or life-limiting illness or conditions from the time of diagnosis. Examples of such initiatives and of different care-services providing pediatric palliative care will be presented. Finally a case to highlighting how a child's care needs might change throughout the illness trajectory and how various healthcare facilities and organizations when collaborating can support the child's participation in decision making is presented.

Keywords: Decision making; Participation; Pediatric palliative care; Sweden; Until end of life.