End-of-Life Care
A core pillar of what we do is caring for the dying child and family.
End-of-Life Care involves the management of pain and other distressing symptoms and the provision of psychological, social, spiritual and practical support for the child and family during and around the time of death.
We believe that good End-of-Life Care should support children and their family to have a choice about their location of care and ultimately, location of death. We therefore try to offer a family the choice about place of death for their child and can offer care and support in LauraLynn House as an alternative to hospital or home. Our Care team works closely with each child and family to ensure wishes are met.
When the family home has been chosen as the preferred place for a child to die, we will work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals and agencies to help facilitate this, and provide responsive, direct nursing care and practical support in the home.
Following the death of a child, families are offered the use of our Butterfly Suite in LauraLynn House. The Butterfly Suite allows the family a protected space and time for a few days, to remain with and care for their child after death in peaceful surroundings.
We recognise too that Memory Making is an essential component of End-of-Life Care. Various members of our hospice care team specialise in crafting beautiful artworks (e.g. framed family trees, Picture Words, Hand and Foot Moulds) and offering creative ways to both allow families to create memories and to continue the bond with their child in a meaningful way through the visual nature of the artwork, at this very sensitive and difficult time.
