Publication
How can telehealth be used to enhance the quality of care in home-based pediatric palliative care: protocol for a systematic literature review
Adlung C, Niehot C, van Capelle C · medRxiv · 2025
Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is a specialized medical approach aimed at improving quality of life of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. It addresses the needs of both the child and family, and preferably starts immediately after a palliative diagnosis with access to specialized care, effective symptom management, and psychosocial, spiritual and emotional support. Unfortunately, receiving PPC is often challenging due to the varied and complex nature of conditions and the difficulties in reaching all patients who require care. Telehealth offers a promising solution by enabling virtual access to interdisciplinary teams, facilitating real-time consultations, extending care into the home, educating professionals across regions, and fostering consistent, collaborative, patient- and family-centered PPC. As this requires a seamless integration into the daily routines of all relevant stakeholders, telehealth may raise complexity in terms of privacy, data protection and regulatory compliance. Nevertheless, studies indicate that parents and patients are open to using telehealth applications. Evidence on the quality of care provided through digital health interventions in PPC remains limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate how telehealth can enhance the quality of care in home-based PPC settings, not only for patients, but also for families and healthcare professionals. Findings from our review will contribute to a deeper understanding of how patients and families can receive timely and equitable palliative care regardless of their location, ultimately informing future models of digital health interventions in PPC. Copyright The copyright holder has placed this preprint in the Public Domain. It is no longer restricted by copyright. Anyone can legally share, reuse, remix, or adapt this material for any purpose without crediting the original authors.
Synced from the TRENDS in Pediatric Palliative Care Zotero library, curated by The Siden Research Team. ICPCN does not host or verify the full text.