Ideas worth spreading

Stories from a home for terminally ill children

1,064,714 views |

Kathy Hull |

TEDWomen 2016

• October 2016

To honor and celebrate young lives cut short, Kathy Hull founded the first freestanding pediatric palliative care facility in the United States, the George Mark Children's House. Its mission: to give terminally ill children and their families a peaceful place to say goodbye. She shares stories brimming with wisdom, joy, imagination and heartbreaking loss.

To honor and celebrate young lives cut short, Kathy Hull founded the first freestanding pediatric palliative care facility in the United States, the George Mark Children's House. Its mission: to give terminally ill children and their families a peaceful place to say goodbye. She shares stories brimming with wisdom, joy, imagination and heartbreaking loss.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about George Mark Children’s House, a special place that's changing the journey for children at the end of their lives.

About the speaker

Kathy Hull

Pediatric psychologist

See speaker profile

Kathy Nicholson Hull founded the first freestanding pediatric palliative care center in the US.

Sheri Brisson & Rose Offner | Explore

Digging Deep: A Journal for Young People Facing Health Challenges

Sheri Brisson, a much respected colleague, has co-authored a very interactive journal for young people who are confronting health challenges and disabilities. The expressive writing process both engages and empowers the young users of this colorful, art-filled journal, which has been a valuable resource for our George Mark patients.

Joanne Hilden, M.D., Daniel R. Tobin, M.D., with Karen Lindsey | Perseus Publishing, 2002 | Book

Shelter from the Storm: Caring for a Child with a Life-Threatening Condition

Shelter from the Storm is a sensitively written book that makes an enormous contribution in supporting parents facing the incredibly difficult job of caring for children with life-threatening illnesses. With its gentle tone and clear language, this book is one that I recommend to the parents of our patients.

Drs. Joanne Wolfe, Pamela Hinds, & Barbara Sourkes | Saunders, 2011 | Book

Textbook of Interdisciplinary Pediatric Palliative Care

Barbara Sourkes, a lovely friend and a pioneer in the field of pediatric palliative care, has co-authored this comprehensive text to demonstrate how collaborative, interdisciplinary care benefits both patients and their families. Our model of care at George Mark Children’s House uses this type of integrated approach to address the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of our young patients and their families. In the thirteen years that we have been in operation, hundreds of families have benefitted from the loving care of our interdisciplinary team.

Edited by Ann Goldman, Richard Hain and Stephen Liben | Oxford University Press, 2012 | Book

Oxford Textbook of Palliative Care for Children

This very comprehensive text is broad in its scope of covering new practices and evolving models that support the provision of palliative medicine for children. It addresses both the clinical aspects and the holistic nature of caring for children at the end of their lives. With nineteen other facilities in the process of development, based on the George Mark model, this book is a valuable resource for new organizations.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about George Mark Children’s House, a special place that's changing the journey for children at the end of their lives.