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Dr. Papadatou introduces her early beginnings in the field of pediatric palliative care and recalls several of influential figures in her life. These figures were “models of professionalism and humanity,” and included her father, her professor, and a 30-year-old woman with ovarian cancer who “made it a point to teach [physicians], advocate [for patients], and prove wrong all the prognostics.” Dr. Papadatou describes her international work in research, education, and her experience with organizing international events that incorporated some of the fields pioneers, such as Charles Corr, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Earl Grollman, Ida Martinson, Betty Davies, and many others. Dr. Papadatou then describes her work with seriously ill children in conjunction with the oncology department of her home hospital, as well as her research and policy contributions. She concludes with her perspective on how the field of pediatric palliative care can advance through a movement of interdisciplinary collaboration, communication, and planning.

Dr. Liben credits his initial venture into pediatric palliative care to his experiences of witnessing “unnecessary suffering” during his career in pediatric critical care. Dr. Liben states that he was attracted to how much “promise” that pediatric palliative care held in addressing more than just the medical needs of children and their families.

He then recalls experiences he had with international leaders in the emerging field of pediatric palliative care. Dr. Liben describes how the field has evolved to be more patient- and family-centric while spanning across the intersections of pain management, chronic care, and complex care. Dr. Liben also discusses how he managed his team and developed integration strategies to become an established service in the hospital space. He recounts some of the initial challenges of educating other clinicians on what pediatric palliative care could bring to a health care team. He also reviews how much adult palliative and adult hospice have influenced and nurtured the pediatric care fields.

Dr. Liben then discusses his work in medical mindfulness with an emphasis on human connections and how he has experienced the “ultimate win-win,” with both healthcare teams and patients being happy with the connections and relationships forged. Dr. Liben concludes with his vision for current pediatric palliative care specialists to “teach ourselves out of a job,” and how he strives to cultivate the next generation of physicians in all specialties to have a holistic patient-first approach that incorporates his field’s mindfulness approach to care for more than just the physical, but also the “logical, spiritual, [and] emotional.”

Dr. Sourkes attributes her career beginnings in pediatric palliative care to a “confluence” of personal and professional experiences. She describes knowing a few “pioneering” health professionals in the 1970s and 1980s. In different fields and different countries, these “first-generation” professionals were all working on their own to commonly define pediatric palliative care and its place in healthcare.

Dr. Sourkes recounts the early days when, in many hospitals, a handful of social workers took on all the psychosocial care of hundreds of children and families in pediatric hematology/oncology. Dr. Sourkes briefly discusses working with Balfour Mount, MD when a group at the Montreal Children’s Hospital as developing an interdisciplinary pediatric palliative care team. . She discusses psychology/ psychiatry’s early role in understanding and interpreting childhood expression of suffering. At the time, despite the distress of families and healthcare professionals witnessing children experiencing pain, it was thought of as a “necessary evil” related to the use of intensive treatments. She then explores an apparent early divide in psychology between research and clinical understanding of dying and suffering in children.

Dr. Sourkes reflects on her hospital experience in the 1980s and 90’s at the Montreal Children’s Hospital working with children and young adults with hemophilia who, as a result of treatment with blood products, were infected with HIV. Another group were child-refugees from Rwanda and Haiti, who had escaped unspeakable horrors, only to find out that they had been infected with the virus. She relates her experiences working with these especially vulnerable populations as having profound impact on her understanding of the complexities and influence of palliative care on a person’s healthcare. Dr. Sourkes describes her challenges to change language describing palliative care and its benefits in a patient’s life to achieve the optimal health outcomes. Out of these clinical challenges, Dr. Sourkes was inspired to write her landmark books The Deepening Shade and Armfuls of Time.

Dr. Sourkes concludes with her two visions to further the field of pediatric palliative care. The first vision is to understand childhood suffering by exploring children’s expression and voice in their own health care. The second is to create and expand a narrative of pediatric palliative care that is educational and less overwhelming for institutions that interact with children, including schools, community centers, religious institutions, as well as the public.

Dr. Gerri Frager begins by introducing the catalyst of her transition from nine years of nursing to her original career goal of medicine after some “really unfortunate episodes of care with patients of nursing.” She then describes the experiences and meetings she had with other emerging pioneers in the fields of pediatric pain and pediatric palliative. Dr. Frager discusses her work at the intersections of pediatric pain management and pediatric palliative care and the evolution of best practices in the field. Dr. Frager explains some of the successes and challenges in pediatric palliative and pain care as well as the simultaneous pioneering journey happening in adult palliative care. She concludes with her goals for the field to address communication barriers and establish great access to pediatric palliative and pain care, despite geographical, financial, and social barriers.

Dr. Betty Davies begins with several stories about her first dying patients as a young professional and the gaps in both her education and the humanity about how death was handled in the hospital setting. Dr. Davies felt that cultivating dialogue about death, dying, and bereavement was a very important “human activity,” that was being neglected. Early into her career, Dr. Davies connected with other likeminded professionals who supported her while she endeavored to give trainings and workshops. She then recalls her work in developing Canuck Place as well as her contributions to research, programs, and the international knowledge base for pediatric palliative care. Dr. Davies explores some of the challenges she faced in her career as well as her perspective on how the field has grown. She concludes with her dream for seamless and continuous care to be available to children in need of pediatric palliative services.

Sister Frances Dominica begins the interview by describing one particular experience early on in her pediatric nursing career that influenced her to found Helen House, the first pediatric respite and hospice house. Helen House implemented a comfortable, homey, and respite hospice model for chronically sick children. Sister Dominica also describes some of her guiding principles of having the children and the families take an active role in shaping their experiences at the Helen House, and eventually at the Douglas House. She then describes some of the early practices of pain management as well as the influence that others in palliative and hospice movements had on her development of pediatric hospice. Sister Dominica also recalled some of the generosity and support for Helen House that the surrounding community displayed. Sister Dominica then goes on to describe some of her international experiences. She concludes with her wish for the pediatric hospice field to reexamine and reinforce the role of family in the care of sick children as well as her recommendation of watching the BBC television series’ that depicted some of the stories of families and patients in the Helen House.

Dr. Martinson recalls her career in children dying at home beginning after a backyard conversation with her neighbor and mentor Dr. John Kersey. Dr. Kersey had mentioned that a child with cancer was going to be admitted to the hospital to die. Dr. Martinson questioned the “common practice” of admitting patients who were actively dying to the hospital. After that conversation, she was drafted by Dr. Kersey to assist in the same child’s healthcare. Dr. Martinson then describes her experience with preforming one of the first documented case studies of supporting a child to die at home with their family. She relates her motivation to help the child die with dignity at home to her own profound experience with helping her father in-law pass at home surrounded by family. Dr. Martinson describes her early experiences with clinicians who offered some resistance and skepticism about allowing children to die at home, but she also states that she was supported by most physicians. Dr. Martinson continues by describing how she continued her work to allow other children to die at home and how she grew the practice of dying at home by making herself available for other nurses and health care professionals internationally. Dr. Martinson then mentions the complexities of maintaining and growing her research in the field of dying at home. She concludes with her vision of the field growing to incorporate community medicine and respite care into priorities for healthcare teams for children suffering with chronic diseases.