Objective: Many hospitals offer legacy-building activities for children with serious illnesses or their family members, yet legacy-making has received little empirical attention. This descriptive cross-sectional study examined healthcare provider perceptions of legacy-making activities (e.g., memory books) currently offered by hospitals to pediatric patients and their families. Methods: Healthcare providers in seventy-seven (100%) teaching children's hospitals across the United States completed an electronic survey. Results: Nearly all providers surveyed reported offering legacy-making activities to ill children and their families, with patients and families usually completing the activity together. Most activities were offered before a patient died and when cure is no longer being sought. Perceived outcomes included benefit to bereaved families and a tangible memento of their deceased child. Conclusion: Legacy-making may enhance life and decrease suffering for dying children and their families. Healthcare professionals can facilitate opportunities for children and their families to build legacies. Additional research is needed to examine activities across different age groups and conditions, the best time to offer such activities, and associations with positive and negative outcomes for ill children, their family members, and the bereaved.

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The utilization of new know ledge in applied social science settings requires that this knowledge be transmitted in formats that are directly relevant, instructional, and parachutable. This article presents information and guidelines to be applied in considering training content, teaching/learning methods, and media. A model program is briefly described.

Research objectives. Analyze responses to the questions ''What is your understanding of your illness?'' and ''What has your doctor told you about the future course of your illness?'' among advanced cancer and non-cancer patients.Method. Qualitative analysis of 210 patients' responses to queries of illness understanding. Responses were recorded at the baseline interview of a larger, longitudinal study of patients with advanced life-limiting illness. After coding emergent themes, investigators conducted pattern analysis to examine variation associated with diagnosis and demographics.

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