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Conversation tools

Various tools have been created to promote the discussion of palliative and terminal care in children and to provide tools to start a conversation about this difficult subject. View the patient card or the conversation guide.


Patient card

Palliative care

Terminal care

Conversation guide

The discussion guide Family discussions about major treatment decisions supports doctors and nurses in conducting family discussions about major treatment decisions. It offers doctors and nurses tools for conducting a family discussion about major treatment decisions. This mainly concerns decisions on whether or not to start life-supporting treatment (e.g. resuscitation) or whether or not to discontinue life-supporting treatment (e.g. invasive ventilation).

It contains concrete tips for talking to the patient's immediate family and for proper preparation. One theme that is explicitly addressed is preparing immediate family members for the imminent death of the patient and discussing their wishes with regard to the farewell.

The discussion guide contributes to an open and caring dialogue between healthcare professionals and next of kin in order to arrive at a decision that best serves the interests of the patient and that hears and supports the immediate family.

The conversation guide also helps healthcare professionals to determine which conversation approach best suits the patient's situation and the wishes and needs of the immediate family. In case there are still several treatment options, each with their advantages and disadvantages, this will usually be an approach of shared decision-making. This does not mean that the next of kin should actually participate in the decision-making process, as emphasized in the discussion guide.