Pediatric Serious Illness Partnership Guide

The Pediatric Serious Illness Partnership Guide is a resource that supports children to understand and participate when serious illness decisions are being made.

Goals of this guide

The partnership guide is dedicated to improving the healthcare experience and quality of life for children, youth, and families. The intention is to provide information and activities that will:

• Promote partnership with children through child-focused ways to engage in a serious illness conversation.
• Provide a tool to support children when a serious childhood illness is part of their care.
• Offer approaches to guide conversations between children, their families, and the healthcare team.
• Help families understand the importance of child participation in healthcare decisions by sharing evidence and recommendations from medical literature.
• Provide direction to families to know when they may need help with serious illness conversations and where they can access support.
• Help families talk with children about goals, questions, wishes, and worries when healthcare decisions arise.

The development of this guide was in collaboration with patient and family partners and pediatric healthcare professionals who support families with serious illness conversations.