Pre-conference symposia - Wednesday Sept 9, 2026
13:00 - 13:30
Registration
13:30 - 17:30
Vaccination Symposium (in DUTCH)
What is Compassionate Vaccination and why does it matter? Which tools do we have to make a vaccination pain-and f ear-free? And how do we apply them in practice? How can we adapt the vaccination process in order to prevent the development of needle fear?
This symposium will be coordinated by the Dutch-Flemish working group on ‘compassionate vaccination in children’. The program includes new insights on trauma-free vaccination technology, family-centered preparation and comfort-enhancing strategies during vaccination. This edition Professor Anna Taddio from Canada will attend again. She is a world authority in the field of trauma-free vaccination.
Dr. Taddio will introduce the recommendations from the new Canadian guideline for managing distress during vaccination, including the CARD program, which translates the guideline into actionable steps for clinicians and organizations. Importantly, some of the new research with CARD includes a positive impact on vaccination uptake.
13:30 - 17:30
Establishing Trust in Children Masterclass (max 100 people) Baruch Krauss and Rose-Marie Daly
While establishing trust is a foundational skill for healthcare providers who care for children, there is no systematic approach to teaching this skill set, nor is there formal training during medical school or residency. Traditionally, these skills have been taught by example, in an unstructured and ad hoc manner, with trainees picking it up along the way by observing and modeling their instructors.
In his masterclass Professor Baruch Krauss (pediatric emergency doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital) and Rose-Marie Daly (pediatric dentist in Dublin) teach the core elements of establishing trust and describe a methodology for establishing trust and managing a child’s emotional state during medical encounters. This practice-based masterclass is a unique opportunity to meet two outstanding experts in the field.
13:30 - 17:30
The Comfort Promise Masterclass - How to change your hospital into a trauma-free place for children (max 50 people) Stefan Friedrichsdorf
The Comfort Promise is a hospital-wide commitment to do everything possible to prevent and treat pain for every child, every time. This revolutionary concept, that was created by Stefan Friedrichsdorf, transformed pain management from something offered "for some children, some of the time" into a standard of care applied systematically across an entire hospital system, affecting hundreds of thousands of children annually. The ‘comfort promise’ has since been adopted by numerous children's hospitals worldwide. In this master class, Stefan Friedrichsdorf, the founding father himself, will teach the key components of this concept and will explore solutions for successful implementation.
conference day 1 - thursday sept 10, 2026
07:30 - 08:45
Registration
08:45 - 09:00
Welcome
09:00 - 09:35
Keynote lecture 1 Joseph Cravero
'Optimizing Pediatric Procedural Sedation - Human Factors Analysis and Multi-specialty Collaboration'
In this lecture I will review my last 25 years of work examining the human factors characteristics of procedural sedation practice with focus on effectiveness and efficiency as well as safety. I will discuss work with a variety of pediatric sub-specialists on evaluating and optimizing the process of Pediatric Procedural Sedation care.
09:35 - 10:10
Keynote lecture 2 Mary Doherty
'Establishing trust with autistic children'
10:10 - 11:00
Coffee break + transfer time
11:00 - 12:30
1. Special Populations
1A. Strategies for procedural comfort in neonates
1B. Establishing trust in children with autism
2. Play, Suggestion & Learning
2A. Suggestion and Hypnosis for procedural comfort
2B. Playing in the Operating Room: managing pre-operative anxiety in children
3. Common Procedures
3A. Sedation strategies for imaging procedures
3B. Managing Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) in children: where PROSA meets Ultrasound-Guided vascular access
4. Family Integrated Procedural Care
4A. Parents and healthcare professionals: how to create a successful collaboration to optimize procedural care
4B. The Nasogastric Tube challenge: how to make it a pleasant experience for all?
Sedation Symposium A - Safety first - risk recognition and rescue
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch
14:00 - 15:30
1. Special Populations
1B. Establishing trust in children with autism
1A. Procedural comfort in Neonates
2. Play, Suggestion & Learning
2B. Playing in the Operating Room: managing pre-operative anxiety in children
2A. Suggestion and Hypnosis for procedural comfort
3. Common Procedures
3B. Managing Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) in children: where PROSA meets Ultrasound-Guided vascular access
3A. Sedation strategies for imaging procedures
4. Family Integrated Procedural Care
4B. The Nasogastric Tube challenge: how to make it a pleasant experience for all?
4A. Parents as competent partners in procedural care
Sedation Symposium B - Successful Sedation: Medication Strategies, Dosing, and Outcomes that Matter
15:30 - 16.00
Coffee break + transfer time
16:00 - 16.40
Keynote lecture 3 Chantal Kapteijn
An interdisciplinary view; what can we learn from managing veterinary procedural stress in animals for managing stress in children.
The lecture will address the importance of early life experiences and its involvement in traumatic experiences. It will also address initiatives that are taken in companion animals to enable positive early life experiences during veterinary procedures and how this might apply to medical procedures in children. When working with animals non- verbal communication is important to prevent stress and fear, practical . Knowledge on the general body language that is uniform across species, will provide you with skills to recognize stress and fear early on. Practical stress free handling guidelines for veterinarians are shared that may prevent stress and fear in (companion) animals and it is discussed how this could also be used in children. In all animals including humans, predictability and controllability are important aspects that may determine the amount of stress you experience from medical procedures. During the lecture we discuss how learning experiences through positive reinforcement training techniques might aid in increasing predictability and controllability during medical procedures.
From 16.40
Paolo Valerio Award + Network drinks and appetisers
conference day 2 - friday sept 11, 2026
07:30 - 09:00
Breakfast sessions on Sedation Drugs
09:00 - 09:35
Keynote lecture 4 Mats Eriksson
Procedural comfort in neonates, with a focus on non-pharmacological and family integrated approaches' Newborn infants are subjected to many painful and stressful interventions, which may lead to short- and long-term consequences. There is evidence for many non-pharmacological ways to prevent and alleviate this pain and stress, including parent-led pain management. This lecture will demonstrate how to best comfort babies during painful and stressful events.
09:35 - 10:10
Keynote lecture 5 Stefan Friedrichsdorf
The Comfort Promise: Avoid Pain and Anxiety from Needle Procedures - from dream to practice
The “Comfort Promise” has now been implemented in children’s hospitals across 25 countries, demonstrating that up to 80% of children can report being “pain free” during needle procedures, including IV cannulation, when a standardized bundle of five evidence-based modalities is used. This session will review these core modalities—such as topical anesthesia and comfort positioning—that should be offered to every child, every time, everywhere. The second half of the lecture will address common myths, barriers, and institutional obstacles encountered by clinical staff and hospital leadership, followed by practical strategies that have enabled successful, sustainable implementation worldwide.
10:10 - 11:00
Coffee break + transfer time
11:00 - 12:30
1. Special Populations
1C. The special procedural comfort needs of ‘Special needs children’
1D. Guiding children with severe psycho-trauma through medical procedures
2. Play, Suggestion & Learning
2C. Virtual and augmented reality for procedural comfort
2D. Ready for procedural comfort care: PROSA training and education
3. Common Procedures
3C. Delivering Procedural Comfort Across Paediatric Specialties: Shared Challenges, Universal Solutions (ENT, Optometry and Paediatric Dentistry)
3D. Managing pain- and stressful procedures in the Emergency Department
4. Family Integrated Procedural Care
4C. Listening with eyes and ears: the child’s ‘voice’ in procedural decision-making
4D. Implementing the ‘Comfort Promise’ in your own practice: learning from examples
Sedation Symposium C - Beyond the Algorithm: Complexity, Diversity, and the Power of the Parent Voice
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch
14:00 - 15:30
1. Special Populations
1D. Guiding children with severe psycho-trauma through medical procedures
1C. The special procedural comfort needs of ‘Special needs children’
2. Play, Suggestion & Learning
2D. Ready for procedural comfort care: PROSA training and education
2C. Virtual and augmented reality for procedural comfort
3. Common Procedures
3D. Managing pain- and stressful procedures in the Emergency Department
3C. Delivering Procedural Comfort Across Paediatric Specialties: Shared Challenges, Universal Solutions (ENT, Optometry and Paediatric Dentistry)
4. Family Integrated Procedural Care
4D. Implementing the ‘Comfort Promise’ in your own practice: learning from examples
4C. Listening with eyes and ears: the child’s ‘voice’ in procedural decision-making
Sedation Symposium D - Innovations & Future Directions
15:30 - 16:00
Coffee break + transfer time
16:00 - 16:35
Keynote lecture 6 Lucy Bray
Be the Change: Children and Young People’s Take-to-Work Messages for Health Professionals
This closing session centres the voices of children and young people, sharing their wishes, reflections and messages for professionals to take back to work.
The session is grounded in the idea that meaningful change begins with every individual through their everyday interactions, relationships, and actions. Their messages will encourage courage, curiosity and compassion and the importance of sustaining learning beyond the conference itself.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Reflect on children and young people’s perspectives on child-centred practice
2. Recognise the importance of courage, curiosity, and listening in improving experiences for children and young people.
3. Consider the impact that individual actions and relationships can have in creating positive change.
16:35 - 17:00
Closure