A scoping review of palliative care for children in low- and middle-income countries

Joan Marston,Marie-Charlotte Bouesseau,Rintaro Mori,Hatoko Sasaki

doi:10.1186/s12904-017-0242-8

Joan Marston, Marie-Charlotte Bouesseau + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0242-8

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Abstract

BackgroundNinety-eight percent of children needing palliative care live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and almost half of them live in Africa. In contrast to the abundance of data on populations in high income countries, the current data on populations in LMICs is woefully inadequate. This study aims to identify and summarize the published literature on the need, accessibility, quality, and models for palliative care for children in LMICs.MethodsA scoping review was performed following the method of Arksey and O’Malley. Systematic searches were conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar using the main keywords, ‘children AND palliative care OR terminal care OR hospice OR end of life AND developing countries OR LMICs.’ Additional publications were obtained by handsearching. Papers were only included if they reported on the need, accessibility, quality, and models for palliative care for children in LMICs.ResultsFifteen papers met the inclusion criteria for review. Of these, 10 assessed need, seven examined availability and/or accessibility, one assessed quality, and one examined the models. We found an urgent need for palliative care, particularly in the training for health workers and improving poor availability and/or accessibility to palliative care in terms of factors such as medication and bereavement support. The best practice models demonstrated feasibility and sustainability through cooperation with governments and community organizations. The quality of pain management and emotional support was lower in LMICs compared to HICs.ConclusionAlthough we found limited evidence in this review, we identified common challenges such as the need for further training for health workers and greater availability of opioid analgesics. While efforts to change the current systems and laws applying to children in LMICs are important, we should also tackle underlying factors including the need to raise awareness about palliative care in public health and improve the accuracy of data collection.

Highlights

Ninety-eight percent of children needing palliative care live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and almost half of them live in Africa
Before beginning the review we identified the research question based on the fact that the available evidence on children’s palliative care in LMICs has not yet been broadly captured and summarized
The quality of palliative care including pain management and emotional support was poorer in low-income countries (LICs) than in high-income countries (HICs)

Summary

Introduction

Ninety-eight percent of children needing palliative care live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and almost half of them live in Africa. This study aims to identify and summarize the published literature on the need, accessibility, quality, and models for palliative care for children in LMICs. Every year around the world, an estimated 20 million people require palliative care if the symptoms they experienced at the end of their life are seen as an indicators of their need. Every year around the world, an estimated 20 million people require palliative care if the symptoms they experienced at the end of their life are seen as an indicators of their need Of these individuals, 78% live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1 [1,2,3]. Special mention of palliative care for children was made in the WHA Resolution

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