Palliative care is defined by the World Health Organisation:

WHO DEFINITION OF PALLIATIVE CARE

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering, the early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems; physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

PALLIATIVE CARE:
Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
Intends neither to hasten nor postpone death
Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death
Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and in their bereavement
Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counselling, if indicated
Will enhance the quality of life, and will also positively influence the course of illness
Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are implemented to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.
WHO, August 2002

WHO DEFINITION OF PALLIATIVE CARE FOR CHILDREN

Palliative care for children represents a special, albeit closely related field to adult palliative care. The WHO definition of palliative care, appropriate for children and their families, is as follows (the principles apply to other paediatric chronic disorders):
Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind and spirit, and also involves giving support to the family
It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether a child receives treatment directed at the disease
Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child’s physical, psychological and social distress
Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available community resources; it can be successfully implemented even if resources are limited
It can be provided in tertiary care facilities, in community health centres, and even in children’s homes (the child’s own home, community home or institution).