Cook Children's

Palliative Care

The Cook Children's Palliative Care program offers support for children with life-threatening conditions, as well as their families.

Cook Children's has joined the ranks of other elite pediatric hospitals in the nation in developing a palliative care program. Our Palliative Care program focuses on relieving physical, emotional and psychosocial suffering, while enhancing the quality of life for our patients.

The Palliative Care team

• Facilitates collaboration, coordination and continuity of care.
• Provides guidance in communicating time-intensive information and difficult conversations.
• Assists with care conferences and family meetings.
• Supports children and families who are making difficult treatment decisions.
• Helps children and families establish goals of care based on their values, beliefs, preferences, framework of meaning, etc.
• Supports the primary care team with managing distressing symptoms.

Additionally, the Palliative Care team encourages early involvement (i.e., near the time of diagnosis), so that they can begin working in conjunction with a patient's curative and/or life-prolonging treatments.