Adult, Pediatric and Perinatal Palliative Care

Patients must have a serious or life-limiting illness (cancer, heart failure, COPD, pulmonary disease, liver disease, renal disease, neurological disease, or HIV/AIDS, and at least one of the following symptoms that impact quality of life or symptom management, including:

• Pain, dyspnea/cough, depression/anxiety, diarrhea/constipation, insomnia, fatigue, delirium, nausea/vomiting/anorexia
• Illness understanding
• Treatment decision making
• Coping with life threatening illness
• Advance Care Planning
• Terminal Care Planning
• Complex disposition needs
• Limited social support
• Medication non-adherence
• Frequent ED visits/hospital admissions
• Medical decisions that need guidance

Please contact our care team to find out if you are eligible.

Yes, anyone can request a screening or make a referral.

Palliative Care services provided by Notre Dame Health Care will be paid for by Medicare Part B for eligible individuals.

Our palliative care team will work in collaboration with your primary care and specialty care physicians.

When you contact us, the types of questions we’ll ask you include:

• What prompted you to call about Palliative Care services today?
• Are you currently being treated for a serious or life-limiting illness?
• What has the individual’s health been like over the last 12 months?

A child must be 18 years old or younger and must live in Massachusetts to receive Pediatric Palliative Care Network services. A physician must state that the child has been diagnosed with an illness that could limit normal life expectancy, such as advanced or progressive cancer, major organ failures, HIV, cystic fibrosis, progressive genetic, neurological or metabolic disorders, or severe cerebral palsy. There are no income limits or citizenship requirements.

Yes. The Pedi Pals team will work in collaboration with your child’s medical providers.

Anyone can make a referral. Referrals may be made directly by a family, by the child’s physician, nurse, or other health care professional, or by others who work with the family. For more information, please call Notre Dame Pedi Pals Program at 508-852-5505.

We provide:

• Nurse case management
• Social work and psych-social assessments
• Spiritual care and counseling for the patient and other family members
• Volunteer support
• Respite care
• Complimentary therapies such as child-life services and music, massage, and art therapies
• Access to 24/7 on-call services
• Bereavement care for family members in the event of death