PatchSA Books on Palliative Care for Children

Palliative Care for Children: A guide for improving the quality of life of patients and their families is a useful and easy to read guide on the key elements of children’s palliative care written for doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, spiritual leaders, teachers, therapists and anyone who interacts with and provides care for seriously ill children.

The book was created as a collaborative project with Bettercare whose materials are used widely by government and private hospitals, non-profit organisations and training institutions in South Africa and other countries and its publication was made possible through generous funding from The Discovery Fund.

It has been written by an experienced multidisciplinary team of experts working within the field of children’s palliative care in South Africa led by Founder of Paedspal and PatchSA Chair Dr Michelle Meiring and PatchSA’s Training Manager, Tracy Rawlins. Much of the information found in our Patch Academy courses has been based on the chapters found in this book.

Comprehensive in scope, topics covered within the book include:

• Principles and practices of children’s palliative care
• Ethical decision making
• Communication, including breaking bad news and holding difficult conversation
• The management of pain and other distressing symptom
• Holistic assessment and care planning
• End-of-life care
• Psychosocial and family care
• Spiritual and cultural understanding
• Self-care, teamwork and managing conflict
• Supporting children and families through loss, grief and bereavement

Perinatal Palliative Care: A guide to supporting families when a baby is at high risk of dying before or shortly after birth is a helpful and easy to read guide written for midwives, nurses, doctors, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, spiritual leaders, therapists and anyone who interacts with and provides care for pregnant mothers and families when the expected baby is likely to die before or soon after birth.

The book was created as a collaborative project with Bettercare whose materials are used widely by government and private hospitals, non-profit organisations and training institutions in South Africa and other countries and its publication was made possible through generous funding from The Discovery Fund.

The first of its kind on perinatal palliative care written for a South African audience, the book has been authored by an experienced multidisciplinary team of experts working within the field of children’s palliative care led by Sister Tracy Rawlins, a professional nurse and the Education and Training Manager at PatchSA.

Topics covered within the book include:

• Introduction to Perinatal Palliative Care
• Providing palliative care in the antenatal period
• Care and support during labour and immediately after delivery
• Care and support during the neonatal period.