Research and Advocacy
Research Activities
We support our team’s innovative research initiatives and are closely aligned with CHEO’s Research Institute and other community sector partners. This critical research focuses on:
- Preventing or relieving suffering,
- Improving patient and family quality of life and
- Improving longer-term outcomes.
Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice research activities allow us to contribute to the broader understanding of pediatric hospice palliative care on a regional, provincial, and national basis. It also helps develop new programs and services.
An example of the impact of our research is that Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice is the first facility in Ontario to develop the specific expertise to offer perinatal hospice care and grief services. We are also the first in the province to provide grief programs that support grandparents and siblings.
Pediatric Palliative Medicine Subspecialty Residency Program
The first of its kind in Canada, the Pediatric Palliative Medicine Subspecialty Resident Program is a partnership between Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice, CHEO and the University of Ottawa.
This innovative program educates physicians and fosters their leadership capabilities as specialists in pediatric palliative medicine. Through resident rotations at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice and CHEO, physicians gain experience in multiple pediatric palliative care areas:
- Hospice care,
- Outpatient and inpatient consultation and;
- Home and community-based care.
Advocacy on behalf of children and families
We are strong advocates and a leading voice for improving the quality of life for children, youth and their families regionally, provincially, and across the country. Our community outreach is based on knowledge sharing, promoting best practices and educating communities.
Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice, including its leadership team, actively endorses the need for access to high-quality care from diagnosis through grief, emphasizing the whole family and their overall well-being.