Our goal as the Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care program is to provide comprehensive, personalized care tailored to you and your family’s unique needs and preferences using a team approach. Your care may involve a number of our team members working seamlessly to ensure you are supported and cared for throughout your journey.

• Physicians: The physicians on our team have completed training specific to pediatrics and palliative care, which aids us in pain and symptom management, decision-making and psychosocial support. Our physicians use their medical expertise to partner with you and your family to tailor a care plan that reflects your values and goals.
• Nurse Practitioners: Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional education, advanced clinical training and certification to provide care to patients and their families. Together with other members of the interprofessional team, nurse practitioners will make recommendations for pain and symptom management, support decision-making, promote communication and advocate for a plan of care that agrees with your goals and aims to improve quality of life.
• Nurses: Pediatric palliative care nurses assess symptoms, provide non-pharmacological pain relief and support the emotional, social and spiritual needs of the child and their family. They provide essential education and counseling to families, offering the support needed to navigate their child's condition across different healthcare settings.
• Social Workers: Social workers provide support to patients and families by providing education about palliative care and how it can be helpful. They help promote adjustment, coping, grief and anticipatory counseling, and help families process medical information. Social workers support families to make sure treatment plans agree with what is most important and advocate for the wishes of patients and families. They also work to identify and reduce barriers to accessing care, intervene and support during times of crisis, and help families work through disagreements.
• Child Life: Certified child life professionals use many skills, including play, to help build relationships to determine specific needs for each child and family member. Our services are provided throughout children’s medical care, improving comfort, coping and education. As families process a hospitalization and diagnosis, certified child life specialists help prepare children for upcoming procedures and assist them in working through feelings about past, present and future experiences.
• Music Therapists: Our music therapist uses musical interventions to achieve nonmusical goals relevant to palliative care needs such as nonpharmacological pain management, end-of-life care and other psychosocial support during a patient’s stay at the hospital. Music therapy approaches health through a holistic lens and creates meaningful, therapeutic relationships through the power of music to best serve the needs of patients and their families.
• Spiritual Care: Our pediatric chaplain specializes in providing whole person emotional and spiritual support based on the needs expressed by patients and families followed by the Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care team.
• Clinic Lead: Our clinic lead provides phone support for non-medical issues and triages calls ensuring families’ concerns are addressed promptly.
• Facility Dog: Facility dogs are specially trained dogs that work in the hospital with staff to help support patients and families during times of illness. They can provide stress relief, distraction and a comforting presence during conversations. These dogs often provide warm hugs, smiles and sometimes even laughter which can help make the hospital a little less scary for children, siblings and families.

Ways the Stepping Stones care team help patients and families include:

• Easing pain, nausea, shortness of breath, agitation, anxiety or other discomfort
• Helping patients, families and care teams work together to support goals
• Including the siblings of seriously ill children in their care and supporting them in a developmentally appropriate way
• Talking with patients and their families about options for care, such as important medical decisions and planning for the future
• Providing emotional, social and spiritual support that respects the values of each individual family
• Helping to understand the illness and the impact it might have
• Offering information regarding hospital and community resources that may help meet the family’s unique needs
• Helping children understand their illness or injury (diagnosis)
• Talking with doctors and care teams to share the family’s goals, hopes and worries
• Supporting the use of coping strategies in school, with friends and at healthcare visits at the hospital and in clinics
• Finding ways to relax and play through programs such as child life, pet and music therapy

Palliative Care During Pregnancy 

At times, families learn during pregnancy that their baby is affected by a serious illness. Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care meets with expectant parents and other medical specialists to better understand the diagnosis and what treatments can be considered after the baby is born. 

The Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care team is here to support families through the remainder of the pregnancy, help plan for delivery and develop a care plan for each individual baby that best agrees with the goals and values of their family.

We can support you by:

• Meeting with expectant families to discuss what is known about the baby’s condition
• Discussing the different ways of caring for a baby with serious illness after their birth
• Inviting family to talk about what they are experiencing while supporting both hopes and worries about their baby’s life
• Helping create a birth plan that expresses the hopes, goals and values of each unique family
• Helping identify and use coping strategies and resources
• Exploring ways to promote bonding with your baby and honoring experiences that are important to you as a parent

The Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care team can see patients and families in the hospital, during clinic visits (in-person), or at home (through a telehealth visit). The first appointment is often an in-person appointment or visit in the hospital. When invited, the palliative care team stays connected to the patient and family over time to continue providing support throughout the course of a serious illness. The team is available during inpatient hospital stays, outpatient clinic visits, telehealth visits from your home, through telephone calls and messages in the Patient Portal. Some families may see palliative care as often as every week, while others may prefer to check-in once or twice a year.

Consults can be placed by primary care providers and specialists for referral to the Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care Team when a patient is in the hospital or being seen in the outpatient clinics. For providers with questions or referrals to the Stepping Stones Pediatric Palliative Care program please call 734-232-9593.

• Ele’s Place – A nonprofit, community based organization dedicated to creating awareness of and support for grieving children and their families. Through peer support group programs, Ele’s Place helps children to cope with the death of a parent, sibling or other loved one.
• GrieveWell – Provides an accessible model of one-to-one grief support for adults in Washtenaw County and surrounding communities.  GrieveWell matches compatible peer counselors with individuals experiencing loss.
• Make a Wish – Empowers children with life-threatening medical conditions to fight harder against their illnesses through extraordinary wish-granting experiences.
• Believe in Miracles – Supports suffering children by providing a personalized gift to bring joy during their most difficult time.  Each child will receive a trophy to acknowledge their courageous fight.
• Support Services at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital – There are many support groups and programs available to you and your child, such as Child and Family Life or Grief Assistance
• Courageous Parents Network
• Wonders and Worries
• Family Reflections