What is the main goal of pediatric palliative care?

• A. Relieve pain and suffering, improve quality of life, and support the family; align care with goals
• B. Cure the disease
• C. Focus only on the child
• D. Delay treatment

Answer: (A)

The main aim of pediatric palliative care is to relieve pain and other distressing symptoms, improve the child’s quality of life, and provide ongoing support to the family, while aligning care with the goals and values of both the child and the family. This approach focuses on comfort, symptom management, and psychosocial and spiritual support, and it can be provided alongside disease-directed or curative therapies rather than waiting until end of life. It treats the family as a unit in planning and decision-making, recognizing that what matters most is the child’s comfort and the family’s ability to cope. Delaying treatment or seeking cure as the sole objective does not capture this comprehensive, patient-and-family-centered goal.