Pediatric hospice care provides compassionate comfort care to children with chronic, complex, and life-threatening conditions. Care is not focused on curing the disease, but on improving the quality of life for seriously ill children and providing comfort, guidance, resources and support to their families. Pediatric hospice care works alongside curative treatment because it brings an extra layer of support and helps reduce the stress and burdens of life-threatening or serious childhood illness. Pediatric hospice care is unique in its approach of providing expert medical care and emotional support as well as a breadth of care that includes the entire family.

When a child is seriously ill, everyone connected to the child is affected.  It is difficult to know where to turn for help and how to move forward. Pediatric hospice care offers support beyond expert medical care including emotional and spiritual care for your family. Care addresses the child’s needs and the needs of the entire family helping them to find their way back to focusing on what’s important—each other and quality of life.

The pediatric hospice care team includes specially-trained doctors and nurses who work in collaboration with you and your doctors. Hospice of South Texas offers pediatric hospice care through our Caterpillar Care Program.

What Services Does Caterpillar Care Provide?

Think of Caterpillar Care as a team united to help your child gain as much comfort as possible and to empower your whole family to live as fully as possible despite the illness. Our care includes:

Emotional Support

Our emotional support can help you manage stress, anxiety, depression, fear, and if necessary, address anticipatory grief. Caterpillar Care helps parents, siblings and grandparents of seriously ill children cope with the emotions and stresses that accompany serious childhood illness. Our team lends support well beyond the physical care we provide.

Relief of Symptoms

Caterpillar Care helps children from birth to 21 years live better with a large range of illnesses including: cancer, lung disease, heart conditions, neurological disorders and premature birth. Care can begin as soon as a diagnosis is made and is offered alongside treatment focused on curing the disease.

Benefits of Pediatric Comfort Care

  • Relief from symptoms including pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, numbness, anxiety, problems with sleep and much more
  • Custom plans of care are created individual to each child, illness and their family
  • Reduces the stress and burdens of illness allowing families to focus on what matters most through emotional and spiritual support for the family
  • Provides all medication and medical equipment, like hospital beds, related to the illness
  • Expert treatment of symptoms, including stress
  • Communication and guidance for difficult and complex treatment choices

Real Support When You Need It Most

We offer support 24/7. It’s a comfort to know we’re a phone call away. Sometimes you just need a trusted voice to be there in the middle of the night when your child wakes up not feeling well. Someone who can assure you there’s nothing to worry about or intervene to set the right course of action.

Education + Guidance

Serious illness can be complex. Understanding what to expect helps you feel more empowered to cope with changes that may occur if the disease progresses. We’ll educate you about the disease, the disease process, and what to expect.

Dedicated Focused Care

– Specialized care from a team of physicians, registered nurses, certified nurse aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers

– Developing personalized care plans for infants, children and teens

– Caregivers work closely with our staff to help with day to day care, trained to monitor changes in patient’s condition

– Education to make informed medical decisions

– Guidance regarding medical, financial and community services

– Durable medical equipment and supplies

– Medications related to primary diagnosis as well as medications to keep one comfortable

Care That Focuses On What Matters Most

We focus on easing the symptoms, stress, worry and anxiety that comes with childhood serious illness so you can focus on what’s most important – living every day to the fullest and enjoying your time together.

Children enrolled in Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program may be eligible for hospice services while also continuing curative / life prolonging treatment.

Hospice of South Texas’ main goal is to improve quality of life for patients, at any stage of the illness. The Caterpillar Care team works closely together with the family to make the best possible decisions for the child, as well as foster communication among family members. Learn more about how we can help.