This Australian study looked at the conversations that took place between families and healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty five paediatric palliative care consultations (including face-to-face, outpatient, tele-health and outpatient and inpatient consultations were videoed. Participants included 14 healthcare professionals, 15 children, 23 adult family members and 5 siblings. Analysis of conversations revealed the topic was all consuming, both serious and non serious talk, with 55% of the topic initiated by healthcare staff, and 45% by parents. The authors concluded healthcare staff should not be surprised by the pervasiveness of COVID-19 and many families will have additional needs and concerns that may impact on health and wellbeing.
Ekberg, K. et al. 2020. The pervasive relevance of COVID-19 within routine paediatric palliative care consultations during the pandemic: a conversation analytic study. Palliative Medicine, 34 (9), p 1202 - 1219.