Our care
Chesapeake Kids is a unique program that provides compassionate, comprehensive, and holistic care to children living with a life-limiting condition and their families. Chesapeake Kids also provides grief services and uniquely designed specialty programs for children who have lost a loved one.
Children Living with Serious Complex Illness
Our mission is to enhance quality of life, as well as to provide care, comfort, and support for children and families as they navigate the healthcare system and determine their goals of care. Care is most often provided in the child’s home, surrounded by the people and things that matter most to them. We strive to create meaningful experiences while honoring the hopes that families continue to have for their child. We can also offer respite and inpatient care at our inpatient care centers if needed.
Who we care for
Children with an advanced, complex illness including heart disease, lung disease, neurological disorders, genetic and metabolic diseases and anomalies, neuromuscular disease, cancers, and tumors. We will work with the family and the child’s primary physician to determine the needs of the child. We serve children ages newborn to young adult who are living in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, and Prince George’s Counties.
Children can continue to receive curative treatment and therapies while receiving our care. We work directly with the child’s current medical team to add an additional layer of support for the family.
What we offer
Physical, emotional, psychosocial and spiritual support for parents, siblings and caregivers. We offer family-centered holistic care and a wide range of services designed to enhance the patient’s quality of life including:
- Pain, symptom and medication management
- 24/7 on-call support
- Education about disease progression and decision-making support
- Navigation through a confusing healthcare system
- Medications, equipment and supplies delivered to the home
- Healing therapies including aroma, music, pet and touch therapies
- Memory-making activities for the entire family
- Counseling for emotional needs and grief support
- Volunteer services
- Interpretation services
Children Living with Loss
As parents and caregivers of children, it can be challenging to see them struggle or feel hurt, particularly if you’re uncertain how to best support them. Regardless of age, grief and loss touch everyone’s lives and affects each differently.
As adults attending to your own loss, you can be overwhelmed with the emotional and sometimes physical pain that accompanies the grieving process. The healing journey can start with support from the presence, guidance and encouragement of family and friends.
Invisible Grief
Children often are referred to as the forgotten or invisible grievers. You may not always see children’s grief displayed outwardly. Internally, children may feel and react to emotions that are difficult to express.
They might not have the words or understanding of what they feel to communicate or process what they’re going through. Like adults, children have a wide range of reactions to grief and loss that can be affected by multiple variables. Children’s behavior often can be regressive when feelings are not verbalized. It’s important to realize that while a child may not be talking about a loss, they’re most certainly thinking about it.
Grief Support Programs
We offer children uniquely designed programs including:
- Age specific grief support groups for children and teens
- Individual and family grief counseling
- Annual bereavement camps for children and teens
- Hope Full Holidays Support Program
- Healing Arts Workshops
- Annual remembrance service
