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An Unmet Need
Children are not supposed to get sick or to die, but they do.
- Over 50,000 children die each year in the United States alone.
- Worldwide, an estimated seven million children and their families could benefit from children's hospice support or palliative care.
- Today, less than one percent of children needing hospice care in the United States receive it.
The number of children receiving hospice and palliative care is on the rise thanks in large part to those programs of Children's Hospice International, which raise the awareness of special needs of children.
Children are not immune to serious illness and death. The devastating impact this can have on their families often leads to increased incidence of job loss, alcoholism, and drug abuse by the survivors. Most parents want and need to have some involvement and control over their children's care. Children's hospice care encourages their participation and thus eases their emotional strain and grief.
Making a Difference
Children's hospice care prepares parents to assume the role of primary caregiver. It supports the inclusion of the patient and the family in the decision-making process to the best of the family's ability and commensurate with their desires. It is an interdisciplinary concept of bringing together physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, teachers, clergy, administrators, and volunteers as a team to provide the care and support needed. The child and family are the leaders of the team.
The focus of hospice care is on life and living, improving the quality of life or the patient and the ongoing lives of the family.
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