PBS ‘HealthWeek’ Report Highlights Hospice Care for Children

Although nearly 10,000 children die of conditions such as cancer each year, fewer than 10% of the nation's 3,000 hospice programs provide end-of-life care for children, and "only a handful are specifically geared toward kids," according to a report that aired Jan. 11 on PBS' "HealthWeek." Children with terminal illnesses often spend the last days or weeks of their lives in a hospital, "hooked up to machines, as doctors try everything they can to head off the inevitable." By contrast, many adults with terminal conditions receive hospice care to help make them "as comfortable as possible, often at home," and to provide support to them and their families. The "HealthWeek" report, which includes interviews with a number of families with terminally ill children, examines "what's being done to make hospice care more available to children" ("HealthWeek," PBS, 1/11). A transcript of the "HealthWeek" report is available online.