Palliative care is a discipline that is devoted to achieving the best possible quality of life throughout the course of a life-threatening illness or a lifespan limiting condition, through the relief of suffering and the control of symptoms.
With palliative care, interventions and treatment are not limited to managing the disease process, but rather become instrumental for improving the quality of life, maintaining the joy, dignity, and autonomy in a child’s life, and ameliorating suffering.
Pediatric palliative care services can be called upon whenever a child is facing a lifespan limiting condition, or a life-threatening or terminal illness. The goal of pediatric palliative care for children is to relieve patients’ symptoms and keep them as comfortable and pain-free as possible, whether or not a cure is possible.
Pedipal Care at MGHfC strives to meet the entire family’s emotional needs. The Pedipal Care service at MassGeneral Hospital for Children works with the patient’s primary and subspecialty team as a consultative service that is available in the hospital, the outpatient clinic, and in the home.
Licensed clinical social workers provide emotional support and help families access additional resources to help cope with end-of-life issues. Social workers are patient and family advocates, and offer referrals and individual counseling. They work with a multi-disciplinary team of pediatric caregivers at the hospital, although services are also available in the outpatient setting and at a child’s home. Chaplaincy services assist with families’ spiritual needs. And of course, expert clinicians provide advanced pain management and therapies to help relieve patients’ symptoms.
For more information about pediatric palliative care and hospice for children, please call 617-724-9197.
