When dealing with the management of the dying patient and his family, systematic research has been very limited. Understanding the dying child's needs, as well as his family's, is important for appropriate therapy programs. The present study investigated the mother's awareness of her child's expressed and wanted needs in three areas of interpersonal relationships. It also studied the dying child's self-perceived needs and desires as com pared with those of children with a non-life-threatening illness and with those of well children.
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