Family Health

Initiated in collaboration with Children’s Hospital Boston, PERCS is an educational program for house staff, medical residents, nurses, and allied health professionals focused on improving communication and relationship-building skills with children and families. The one-day workshop includes interviewing of simulated patients, video feedback, personal and professional debriefing, and didactic presentations in pediatric palliative care and communication principles. This workshop continues to be offered on a monthly basis, and has been attended by over 150 practitioners.

The National Institute of Child Health and Development is launching a landmark study that will approach 400,000 women to seek their interest in participating in the National Children’s Study (NCS). Ultimately, the NCS hopes that 100,000 women and their children will be enrolled and followed until the children are 21 years of age. EDC is ensuring that women understand the roles, obligations, risks, and benefits of participation by building an innovative, interactive electronic tool.

This project organizes retreats that explore ways to integrate pediatric palliative care education into health care settings. Building on the “Family as Educators” component of EDC’s Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care (IPPC) program, bereaved parents and parents whose children are faced with chronic health conditions participate in the retreats as co-teachers and co-learners alongside the health care professionals.

Gems of Care (GOC) is a national program dedicated to improving the continuity and coordination of health care and social services for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. GOC will achieve improved integration of services by facilitating networking and dissemination of expertise between hospitals and community-based organizations, both within identified geographical regions and throughout the country.

Working in the pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) of six geographically and demographically diverse children´s hospitals, this study will examine end-of-life care through medical records and interviews with key stakeholders—the child´s parents, the child´s primary nurse, the nurse who was present at the bedside at the child´s death, the attending intensivist who directed the child´s care, and a clinician besides the physicians and the nurses who provided psychosocial support to the family (e.g., social worker, psychologist, child life specialist, or chaplain).

The Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care (IPPC) is an educational and a quality improvement effort, aimed at enhancing family-centered care for children living with life-threatening conditions. IPPC’s comprehensive, interdisciplinary curriculum addresses knowledge, attitudes and skills that health care professionals need in order to better serve children and families.

CC&F, in partnership with Aid to Incarcerated Mothers (AIM), is training a cadre of mentors who will support children in Massachusetts, ages 4 to 14, who have a parent in a state or federal prison. CAMP’s goal is to minimize the impact of separation and incarceration on the child, and to improve the bonds between the children and their parent who is incarcerated. CC&F designed and is delivering a comprehensive training series that informs and supports mentors in their work with children.

This national project was designed to strengthen the capacity of child care programs and Head Start to promote the social and emotional development of young children. CC&F/EDC worked on identifying the needs of direct-service staff to better support children’s social and emotional development. Working with partners in universities and national organizations, CC&F/EDC developed and disseminated training materials through national and local networks.