Quality of Life & Advanced Care (QoLA Care) - McMaster Children's Hospital

The Quality of Life & Advanced Care (QoLA Care) service at McMaster Children's Hospital (Hamilton Health Sciences) is available by consultation for children and their families affected by serious health conditions which may impair their quality of life. Our goal is to optimize quality of life of our patients and their families now and in the future.

Our approach is tailored to the needs of the patient but may include:
- Promotion and facilitation of factors which add to quality of life.
- Anticipation, early recognition, and treatment of factors which detract from quality of life, including physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual suffering.
- Aid for families in identifying family-centered, value-driven goals of care, including advance care plans, when required.
- Support for families in decision-making, planning, and comfort care at end-of-life, including facilitating family wishes for location of death (home, hospital, hospice), legacy creation, anticipatory grief support, and after-death arrangements.
- Acute grief and bereavement support for families following the loss of the patient.

Consultations must come from a physician or nurse practitioner. Patients are seen in both inpatient and outpatient domains.