Pediatric Palliative Care

A life-limiting illness in a family is difficult for everyone involved. When it is your child who has one, you need support and care to help you through the challenges. To meet your needs, UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center offers pediatric palliative care services. The program offers services to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

What Is a Life-limiting Illness?

A life-limiting illness is defined as an illness that can limit normal life expectancy such as:

• Cancer
• Cystic fibrosis
• Major organ failure

Our goal is to provide care that relieves suffering and improves quality of life for our patients with advanced illness and their families.

Palliative Care Services

The services we provide include:

• Educational outreach
• Palliative care clinic for outpatient consultations
• Home visits
• Comfort care room at the hospital that provides a home-like atmosphere for terminally ill children