Show you care – wear a hat for children’s palliative care

The International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) has chosen the second Friday in October as a day for raising funds and international awareness of the work of children’s hospices and children’s palliative care services worldwide. Anyone can join this awareness campaign by following these 3 simple steps:

Wear a hat to work, college or school on Friday 12 October
Take a selfie and post to social media using #HatsOn4CPC and tagging ICPCN
Donate online to ICPCN or your nearest children’s hospice or palliative care service

Children’s palliative care (CPC) is holistic care that responds to the unique physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of a child with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness and that of the child’s family. The child’s pain and symptoms are relieved and they are helped to enjoy the best possible quality of life, for however long or short a time that may be. It also supports the child and family at the end of a child’s life with bereavement care provided for as long as it is needed. This specialised care is delivered by a dedicated team of people, many of whom wear diverse and many different hats.

Hats on 4 CPC will be held on Friday 12 October 2018. It aims to raise awareness of the rights of very sick children to receive palliative care. We know that over 21 million children in the world live with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness or condition. At present less than 1% of these children have access to children’s hospices or palliative care services.

Now into our fifth year of holding the Hats on 4 CPC day, ICPCN expects to have an even greater reach than in previous years.

Learn how you can get involved in Hats on 4 CPC by visiting www.icpcn.org or contact us at media@icpcn.org and we will send you further details.

Those motivated to do more to raise awareness for these children can encourage your workplace, school or business to get involved. Alternatively get creative and host your own ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’, or luncheon. Be sure to take photos and tag us using #hatson4cpc.

ENDS

Notes for Editors ICPCN

The International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) is a network of organisations and individuals working in children’s palliative care and believes that the total needs of life- limited

children and their families should be met to encompass physical, social, spiritual and developmental aspects of care. To find out more about children’s palliative care worldwide please go to www.icpcn.org

ICPCN’s Vision

To live in a world where children’s palliative care is acknowledged and respected as a unique service, and every child and young person with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and their families can receive the best quality of life and care regardless of which country they live in. The

International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) shares a vision that the total need of life- threatened or life-limited children should be met to encompass physical, emotional, spiritual and developmental aspects of care.

ICPCN’s Mission

Our mission is to achieve the best quality of life and care for children and young people with life-

limiting conditions, their families and carers worldwide, by raising awareness of children’s palliative care, lobbying for the global development of children’s palliative care services, and sharing expertise, skills and knowledge.

ICPCN’s Aim

To help services across the world to develop and meet the total care and support needs of life-limited children and their families.
To advocate and raise awareness of children’s palliative care and the specific needs of life- limited or life-threatened children and their families.
To facilitate communication and sharing of resources, information and research worldwide, and to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for information relating to children’s palliative care.
To campaign for the global development of children’s palliative care.
To enable the sharing of expertise and information between children’s palliative care practitioners.
To increase the international evidence base for children’s palliative care through education and research.

Download the A5 flyer – A5-Flyer-2018

For more information on this press release, please contact:

Lorna Sithole

Media and Marketing Officer

International Children’s Palliative Care Network

T: +27 (0)74 5497 257