Pediatric end-of-life care: coming of age?

In the United States alone, 75,000-100,000 children die each year, and an additional one million are seriously ill with progressive medical conditions. However, very few end-of-life programs target children’s special needs. Introducing support and palliative care early into a child’s final journey is key to alleviating distress for both child and parent. This article reviews several programs which tackle the difficult issue of pediatric end-of-life care.