Nearly a third of terminally ill children die at home
Recent figures from Rehpa, the knowledge center for rehabilitation and palliation, reveal an increasing trend of incurably ill children dying at home rather than in hospitals. From 2012 to 2020, hospital deaths among children under 18 decreased from 75% to 60%, which also includes deaths at children’s hospices. Parents, deciding on home death, assume care responsibilities, but can receive guidance from hospital pediatric palliative teams. Each of the five regions has 5 to 7 palliative teams. Professor Mette Asbjørn Neergaard from Aarhus University Hospital notes a growing awareness and demand for home palliation. Rehpa’s data indicates that home deaths from cancer in children aged 2 to 12 have risen from 26% to 61% between 2012 and 2020, while hospital deaths have decreased from 74% to 39% in the same span.