• Chris Feudtner, Abby R Rosenberg, Renee D Boss, Lori Wiener, Maureen E Lyon, Pamela S Hinds, Myra Bluebond-Langner, and Joanne Wolfe.
• The Ingerman Center for Pediatric Palliative Care, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Electronic address: feudtner@email.chop.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2019 Nov 1; 58 (5): 909-917.e3.

ContextTo dramatically advance the evidence base for pediatric palliative care (PPC) interventions, practices, and programs in the U.S. and similar practice settings, the field needs to better understand the challenges and opportunities for rigorous scholarship.ObjectivesThe Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network conducted a workshop to clarify challenges and identify key priorities.MethodsThe workshop focused on PPC research topics and methods, including outcomes measurement, qualitative inquiry, analyses of big data, prospective collection of research data, case series and cohort studies, and intervention trials, with synthesizing summary and follow-up discussions. All attendees reviewed and approved the final report.ResultsFive common challenges were identified: patient diversity and small population size; interdependencies and dynamic interactions between child, family members, and disease processes over time; outcomes and measurement; workforce and infrastructure limitations; and presumed burden of PPC research on participants. Seven priorities emerged: bolster training and development of PPC investigators; develop core resources; advance symptom measurement (and measurements of other exposures and outcomes); improve symptom management and quality of life interventions; improve communication, elicitation of goals of care, and decision making; understand family impact and facilitate or improve family adaptation and coping; and analyze and improve systems of care, policy, and education.ConclusionThese challenges and priorities identify key research areas that can guide individual investigators and research funders to advance the field.Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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