Advance care planning in the context of children's palliative care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding advance care planning in the context of children’s palliative care.
IRAS ID
167355
Contact name
Helen Bennett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Advance care planning (ACP) is an important part of end of life care and practiced in adult and children's palliative care. However there is little evidence to demonstrate that the model of ACP used in adult palliative care is transferable to children's practice. The purpose of the study is to deepen our understanding of the processes associated with advance care planning (ACP) for children with life threatening and life limiting illnesses. The study will aim to understand these processes from the perspective of parents. It will seek to understand how best and when to have conversations with parents about their preferences for their child's end of life care. The study will use a grounded theory approach that will enable the complexities of ACP practice to be understood through the stories and narratives of parents. Parents will be recruited to the study through a children's community team and invited to share their experience of ACP through 1:1 semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts and field notes will be analysed using a constant comparative method and the findings used to support health care professionals in when and how to talk to parents about their childs care at the end of life. The study is being undertaken as a doctoral project for the degree of PhD Health Sciences.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0177
Date of REC Opinion
6 May 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion