First national survey to determine the support needed by seriously ill children. Children with serious, life-threatening illnesses such as childhood cancer or heart disease are often hospitalized for long periods of time or have to travel long distances to hospitals that can treat them.
Survey is conducted through direct interviews with the children themselves and questionnaires, in order to gain a concrete understanding of what kind of worries and troubles the children have had during their stay in the hospital and in their lives after discharge. It is estimated that there are 20,000 children with these life- threatening serious illnesses nationwide.