Lots of heat out there about palliative and end of life care (they are not synonyms) but not a lot of light. Carol Ann Campbell on Kaiser Health News today takes a look at what palliative care can do for seriously ill children and their families, and the obstacles to getting it to them. I've reported on some of these same programs and obstacles before (here and here) as well as the slowly expanding access cancer patients -- including some who are very sick but not necessarily dying -- have to palliative care as they endure painful symptoms, difficult treatments, and complex decisions. As the political hue and cry shows, these are difficult topics to talk about in our culture. Too often, people equate palliative care with "pulling the plug." In reality, palliative care teams (which often include chaplains and social workers, as well as doctors and nurses) treat pain, control symptoms, and help patients and their families with the physical, practical, emotional and spiritual challenges of serious illness.