Clinical Pearls for Paediatric Palliative Care in Community Settings: Practical Strategies for Interdisciplinary Providers
A part of the CHPCA Learning Institute Series, this session will take place Thursday, November 19 from 12:00pm – 3:30pm (Eastern).
About this Session
Paediatric palliative care in community settings presents unique clinical, emotional, and logistical challenges for interdisciplinary providers who may have limited exposure to paediatric populations yet are increasingly called upon to deliver this care. Children with life-limiting conditions often receive care across fragmented systems, where community-based clinicians play a critical role in ensuring continuity, symptom management, and family-centered support. Despite this, many providers report discomfort with paediatric-specific symptom assessment and management, communication with children and families, and navigating complex trajectories outside tertiary paediatric centres.
This CHPCA Learning Institute session will focus on approaches that can be readily integrated into everyday practice across community settings. Didactic and interactive components will deliver practical, evidence and experience-informed strategies to enhance confidence and competence in delivering paediatric palliative care in community contexts for a broad audience of healthcare providers—including nurses, physicians, allied health professionals, and other community-based practitioners.
Key topics will include:
- Collaboration with specialist paediatric teams and leveraging virtual supports
- Paediatric pain and symptom assessment and management strategies
- Communication strategies for engaging paediatric patients and siblings
- Anticipatory guidance for care planning in home or hospice
This session aligns with the Learning Institute’s emphasis on practical, interactive learning and aims to build capacity among community providers to deliver high-quality, compassionate paediatric palliative care where children live and receive care most often.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, participants will be better equipped to:
- Recognize and respond to common paediatric palliative care challenges in the community
- Apply practical symptom management and communication strategies
- Identify opportunities for collaboration to optimize care for children and families
Learning Institute Session Facilitators
Dr. Sarah Lord, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Dr. Sarah Lord joined the Paediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in 2018 and was appointed as Medical Director in 2026. She has been the inaugural clinical lead for Toronto’s regional perinatal palliative care program (IMPACT), where she has helped shape a collaborative program across centers to provide equitable, high-quality palliative care to families affected by life-threatening fetal conditions.
Dr. Lord also serves as a Clinical Bioethics Associate within the SickKids Bioethics Department. Her academic interests include ethics, quality improvement, and their intersections with clinical care for children with life-threatening conditions, from fetal life onward.
LaToya Hillson, MSc, CCLS
LaToya Hillson is a Certified Child Life Specialist supporting children and families navigating life-limiting and complex pediatric illnesses. Her work focuses on helping families cope with what each moment brings, using developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed approaches that center dignity, connection, and meaning.
She is a dedicated advocate for the voice of the child, grounding her practice in an inclusive and equitable lens to ensure all children and families feel seen, heard, and supported. LaToya brings a blend of clinical expertise and compassion, supporting families to engage with life as fully as possible, even in challenging circumstances.
Rebecca Williams, MN
Rebecca Williams started her nursing career at SickKids on the Haematology/Oncology (8A) inpatient ward. She returned school in 2010 to get her Masters in Nursing and trained as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the University of Toronto. From her experiences working on 8A she found her passion in paediatric palliative care.
In 2012 she joined the Paediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) at SickKids as a Nurse Practitioner. In 2015, she became the Outreach Nurse Practitioner on the PACT team, supporting families and care teams with transitions to home and end-of-life care at Emily’s House Paediatric Hospice. She also helped develop the IMPACT program in 2018, providing perinatal palliative care in collaboration with Mt. Sinai and Emily’s House.
