OTTAWA, ON., April 29, 2024 – Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice (RNCH) received up to $1 million in funding from the Government of Canada’s, department of Health to initiate a project to enhance access to pediatric palliative care across Canada.
Read the news release here: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2024/04/government-of-canada-supports-roger-neilson-childrens-hospices-project-enhancing-access-to-pediatric-palliative-care.html
David McGuinty, MP for Ottawa South announced the funding at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice. During the announcement Megan Wright, Executive Director of RNCH spoke of the importance of this work: ‘Once again, we are thrilled and tremendously appreciative of this support from the Government of Canada, knowing that it will enrich young lives, no matter how short, and ease an extremely difficult journey for families. We believe every child and every family should have access to compassionate and professional pediatric palliative care, regardless of their location.’
This funding is a reminder that palliative care is a critical part of Canada’s health care system. However, in many areas of Canada, it is difficult to access quality pediatric palliative care.
The care provided at a children’s hospice like RNCH is special in that it embraces the well-being of the entire family. Whether children are admitted for respite care, symptom management, transition to home, or end-of-life care, the care providers at RNCH focus on improving quality of life for seriously ill children and their families.
Yet, despite RNCH’s excellent reputation for holistic and compassionate care, access to this kind of service is not the case for most children with serious illnesses and their families across Canada. Many healthcare professionals and other community care providers do not understand the extent of services available, how they can refer children and their families, or how they themselves can deliver this type of care. In addition, many families do not know how and where to seek help, and many do not even know that Pediatric Palliative Care is an option.
Therefore, working alongside individuals and other organizations across Canada that provide Pediatric Palliative Care, as well as those that focus on health equity, Roger Neilson’s Children’s Hospice’s hope is that this project will heighten awareness of the pediatric palliative care approach as an option for seriously ill children and their families throughout their illness journey, while building capacity in communities to ensure that all Canadian infants, children, youth, and families across the country have equitable access to high quality pediatric palliative care.
Thanks to the support from Health Canada, the project will help to improve knowledge of and access to palliative care for the underserved population of children and their families, while supporting health providers, caregivers, and communities with quality pediatric palliative care skills and resources. Through the development of the centralized resource hub for professionals this project will not only build capacity, but it will also ensure that the care provided is focused on the unique needs of Canadian children living with serious illnesses and their families and enable that care to be delivered in their location of choice.
For more information or to learn more about this project please contact:
Kira Goodman, Project Director
For more information about Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice and our services, please visit www.rogerneilsonchildrenshospice.ca
Media Contact:
Sherrilynne Starkie
PR Advisor to Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice
Sherrilynne(at)SherrilynneStarkie.com