|
Palliative Care Mission: To provide compassionate, comprehensive and consistent care to children living with serious illnesses, and their families.
What is Palliative Care
Palliative Care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) offers active support for patients and their families who are faced with a life-threatening diagnosis. Palliative Care is appropriate at any time during an illness and can be provided at the same time as treatment that is aimed to cure. The goal is to enhance quality of life.
Care that fits your needs
Different families have different needs. Palliative Care offers a wide range of flexible services to help you through the changing phases of illness.
Team Approach
We partner with a team of experts including pediatric palliative care doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, child life specialists, music therapists, physical and occupational therapists, pharmacists, and nutritionists to ensure the child and family receive as much support as needed and desired. Outside resources are also provided.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can I know if Palliative care is right for my child?
Palliative Care might be right for your family if:
- Your child is in the hospital more and more or is becoming harder to care for at home
- Usual treatments are not working or seem to be hurting more than helping
- You are feeling overwhelmed or are having trouble coping
- The doctors have told you that your child’s illness could or will lead to an early death
Who besides my child can benefit from Palliative Care?
Everyone is involved. Families are the focus of Palliative Care. We will work with you, your child, and your child’s brothers and sisters. We can even work with your child’s school or with other people that are important to your family.
Who provides Palliative Care?
Our team of experts includes pediatric palliative care doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, child life specialists, music therapists, physical and occupational therapists, pharmacists, and nutritionists. Others may also be involved.
Do I have to change doctors?
No. The Palliative Care Team works with your primary care doctor and the specialists involved in your child’s treatment.
Does insurance cover Palliative Care?
Most insurance plans cover all or part of Palliative Care, and many of the services are free. If costs concern you, a social worker can help.
Where is Palliative Care provided?
Palliative Care is provided wherever it works best for you. We will visit your child and family in the hospital, at clinic appointments and also in the comfort of your own home.
Palliative Care another name for hospice?
No. Though hospice can be one part of Palliative Care, Palliative Care can begin at the time of diagnosis of a serious illness. It is not limited to end-of-life care.
How can my child begin receiving Palliative Care?
Ask for it! Find out more from your child’s doctor or nurse or call (313) 745-0883. Then ask the doctor for a referral.
What should I expect from the Palliative Care Team?
- Consistent support whether you are at home or in the hospital, through good times and bad
- Expert management of pain and other sources of suffering and access to resources in the hospital and at home
- 24 hour access to a physician or nurse who knows your child and understands what your family is going through
- Clear and timely information to help you understand all that is going on with your child, and the role of each member of the medical staff
- Family meetings that help answer questions and address fears about the future
- A focus on adding meaning to your child’s life through memory making and the completion of realistic goals
Who Can Refer a Patient?
A child can be referred by anyone: physician, nurse, family, clergy, social worker or friend. Call (313) 745-0883 for more information or e-mail us at chmpalliativecare@dmc.org.
|