The Pediatric Advanced Comfort Care Team (PACCT) at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is an interdisciplinary team of care providers dedicated to providing palliative care to patients and families from the time of diagnosis of a life-limiting or life-threatening illness. PACCT provides comprehensive palliative care that includes clinical services, education, and research.

Vision

The PACCT will be the primary resource within the hospital and community for coordinating the development and implementation of standards of pediatric palliative care. The PACCT will promote palliative care for all children from birth to adolescence so that quality of life is maximized. Special emphasis will be provided to those patients facing life-threatening illness.

Mission

The PACCT strives to facilitate holistic care to the children with potentially life-threatening illnesses and their families.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care seeks to help patients with potentially life-threatening conditions and their families live as normal a life as possible to enhance quality of life. Palliative care seeks to address medical, emotional and spiritual issues of the patient and family by providing compassionate support and accurate and timely information as needed. Such care seeks to relieve the concerns and facilitate control of symptoms produced by a potentially life-threatening medical condition or its treatment.

Palliative care, ideally, should be introduced at time of diagnosis and is not limited to people thought to be dying. Pediatric palliative care is provided concurrently with curative or life-prolonging treatments.