Language Awareness
Truthtelling is a key value that is used in palliative care practice and research. We believe that children and parents should be given information in ways that they can understand and that we should always be honest in the information that we provide. Disclosing information that may be emotionally upsetting to a child or family member should be done with compassion and follow good communication practices.
Research and knowledge translation is based on the same principles of honesty, respect, privacy and confidentiality within a developmental framework. We use words like dying and death instead of lost or passed away to ensure clarity and honesty in our work.
