Caring Circle provides support to children who are grieving
through Lory’s Place, a grief healing and education center.
Now, Caring Circle is expanding its care to provide more
comprehensive hospice and palliative services to children and
their families in southwest Michigan through a new Pediatric
Care Program. The program is designed to provide support to
children and their families who are facing life-limiting illness,
and offers counseling and support services to help children
and families as they grieve.
As a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization (NHPCO), Caring Circle has developed its Pediatric
Care Program to comply with the NHPCO Standards of Practice
for Hospice Programs. These standards guide hospice programs
that provide care to patients in the perinatal period, infancy,
childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Using these standards
as a model, and with specialized training from Hospice of
Michigan, Caring Circle has developed partnerships to address
challenges found in providing care to children and their families.
By facilitating and supporting connections in their home
community to established medical, emotional, and spiritual
sources of support Caring Circle will address the fragmentation
of care that can result when children and families travel far from
home for treatment. Through specialized teams and training,
families will know that Caring Circle can provide the care they
need in their community.
David Collins, MD, will lead the Pediatric Care Team for this new
program. His experience in family medicine gives Dr. Collins a
strong background to provide oversight for the unique needs
of pediatric patients and their families. Caring Circle has also
arranged for expert consultation from Hospice of Michigan.
“Our mission at Caring Circle is to provide services to anyone who
needs them in our area,” says Melinda Gruber, PhD, President and
CEO. “With our expansion of pediatric care, we can do so without
regard to a patient’s age. We also want families to know that we
can support them even while they continue to seek curative
therapy for their children.” Caring Circle has medical, social work,
bereavement, spiritual, and volunteer resources that can address
and meet the needs of these individuals and families. The Pediatric
Care Program will also incorporate the existing services that Caring
Circle provides to pediatric patients and families, including the
Merlin and Carolyn Hanson Hospice
Center, Lory’s Place, Camp Lifetimes,
and onsite school peer support
groups. With these collaborations in
place, coupled with its 36-year history
of providing hospice services to the
community as Hospice at Home,
Caring Circle will provide hospice
interdisciplinary care and
support to the children and
families of our community.