Pediatria pre prax 4/2024

European Charter on Palliative Care for Children and Young People

In 2022, the EAPC Children and Young People’s Reference Group prepared the European Charter on Palliative Care for Children and Young People. This Charter aptly describes the main principles and presents the standards for pediatric palliative care in Europe. In Slovakia, we encounter a distorted perception of pediatric palliative care, including by medical personnel. This topic concerns not only children’s hospices or oncology, but also ordinary pediatric practice. Pediatric departments, general practitioners and specialized clinics provide care for children with serious illnesses (and their families). By adopting the principles of pediatric palliative care we can bring positive change: by appropriately chosen sensitive approach, focused on the benefit of the patient and with respect to family values and by empathetic professional communication. We believe that the European Charter on Palliative Care for Children and Young People will help us understand more. Therefore, we present it in full in the following article. For more comfortable reading, it is converted from table format to free text. The Charter is available at https://eapcnet.eu/eapc-groups/reference/children-young-people/.

Keywords: pediatric palliative care, charter, children, serious illness