Emily’s House Children’s Hospice

Emily’s House

Emily’s House provides a family friendly haven and temporary home away from home for children and their families requiring end-of-life palliative care and/or medical respite supports. Our paediatric hospice aims to improve quality of life in circumstances of advanced complex illness, disease and disability. When all medical curative treatment options have been exhausted, Emily’s House offers an alternate to hospital or home care, with an emphasis on making every day matter and living life to the fullest of abilities.

Our child-centred programming integrates entire families through all stages of a child’s illness, including specialized 24/7 clinical/nursing and medical necessities, symptom management, perinatal care, respite support, therapeutic programming/recreation, legacy work/making memories, acute end-of-life care, bereavement/spiritual and counselling, social work and out-patient aftercare at home.

The Emily’s House team of staff and specially-trained volunteers are committed to offering a safe, home-like environment, where children with a life-limiting illness can just be kids, and their families be parents, while finding relief and peace of mind. Our Emily’s House building is adjacent to an accessible public park, is surrounded by a well-maintained green-space garden, and is within enjoyable walking distance of community destinations, like the Riverdale Farm.

Many of these children are referred to us for care from SickKids Hospital. Dr. Adam Rapoport, MD, Medical Director, Emily’s House and Paediatric Advanced Care Team, SickKids Hospital writes: “Children are not just little adults; dying children require unique care. Whereas the vast majority of dying adults prefer to be at home at the end of life, the same cannot be said for the families of dying children. While more than 80% of adults receiving palliative care in Ontario have cancer diagnoses, cancer accounts for less than 25% of the patients we care for at the end of life. The vast majority of children receiving palliative care in our province have complex technology-dependent congenital or acquired neurologic disease. Their medical challenges frequently result in difficulty providing optimal care at home when they are “healthy”. Dr Adam later added: “Emily’s House has become in the care of our most medically fragile and complex paediatric patients. We continue to be a valued and trusted respite service provider, as well as the preferred location of care at a child’s end-of-life, for families from all over the province.”

Emily’s House’s integrated supports include:

Medical Respite: Allows families a break from the daily routine of caregiving. Programs operate 24/7 and offer nursing, recreation, psychosocial/spiritual, bereavement care and music.
Symptom Management: Children with complex symptoms may be admitted for assessment and monitoring while medication and treatment changes are implemented.
Transitional Care: Children may transition between hospital and their own home through our program, where enhanced nursing support and family education is offered.
End-of-Life Care / Advanced Care: Resources and support are provided for families allowing them to focus on making the most of the final days with their child.
Perinatal Care (IMPACT): Perinatal palliative care supports parents following a baby’s prenatal diagnosis of a life-limiting condition expected to result in death prior to, or shortly following, birth. Perinatal palliative care aims to provide families with the supports they require, before and after birth and death, as well as ensuring access to bereavement counselling.
Grief and Bereavement: Children and their families are comforted and supported in processing loss, relationships, meaning making and celebrating special moments that become life-long memories.
Spiritual Care: Clients and families can process physical, emotional, social, and spiritual pain, with the support of our Spiritual Care Practitioner; or be connected with communities that honour preferred traditional culture and practices.
Legacy and Memory Making: Legacy work facilitates the creation of family experiences, meaningful crafts, heartbeat songs and new memories – for our children and families. It is a cornerstone of grief and bereavement support in paediatric palliative care.
Recreation / Play/ Art: Understanding that play is often referred to as “the language of children,” playful one-on-one interventions are created to provide children a time to express their challenges, successes and / or needs in a supported and play-filled way.
Music Therapy: Children and families experience a safe space where they can express themselves, and find comfort, support, and symptom management. Song writing and “heartbeat songs” can also be incorporated into legacy work activities and lasting memories.
Peer Family Supports / Events: Children and families find friendships, comfort and community with others who are experiencing a similar palliative journey, or grieving their child’s death.
Sibling Supports: Siblings are included in recreational / music programming with a medically-fragile child, have access to respite, outings, and bereavement support, for improved mental health outcomes.
Social Work: Each member of the immediate family has access to counselling, advocacy and social service referral supports.
Volunteers: Children enjoy story times, visits, play, recreation, music, outings and special events with thanks to our volunteers.
Community Hospice Care: A wide range of outpatient, in-home supports are available through our PAC Community Program and Emily’s House at Your Home.

When there is no cure there is still compassion, hope and community of care … there is hospice.

Emily’s House FAQ

For any additional questions, please contact us at [email protected] and you will be forwarded to someone who can assist you. [Note: due to the volume of requests, we may not be able to respond to all inquiries in a timely manner.]

Emily’s House is located in beautiful Riverdale neighbourhood at 45 Jack Layton Way (just North of Gerrard Street East/Broadview Avenue). There is paid street parking along Gerrard, as well as some free street parking on side streets nearby between certain designated times. It is serviced by TTC Streetcar Routes 504, 505, 506 and by Bus Routes 306 (blue night streetcar route). Please click here to see a map.
Families accessing standard respite are responsible for providing the child’s medications, diapers, special food, and other supplies required by the child for the duration of stay. Emily’s House will cover supplies related to advanced respite care as well as all direct costs of care. Emily’s House relies on the generous support of volunteers, individual donors and corporate sponsors in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to offer our programs at no cost to families.
Emily’s House staff include a Child Life Therapist and / or Recreation Coordinator who are responsible for planning recreational programs according to your child’s preferences and abilities. Emily’s House aims to provide a “home away from home.” A care plan will be developed with you and your child prior to admission that will include appropriate activities to meet your child’s needs.
Visiting hours, for guests (other than parents/siblings) are from 9:00am to 9:00pm daily. But if you have guests after 9:00pm, we recommend that you visit with your guests on the main floor. Visitors must sign in at the reception desk and obtain a visitor’s badge that must be worn at all times. All guests must be approved by the parents of the child being visited.
Please review the Admissions Checklist / Personal Belongings Checklist as well as our Family Handbook. All medications, special equipment, clothing (labelled with your child’s name), toiletries and special toys that your child requires should be brought from home. The personal belongings checklist can be found here and can be used as a guideline of things to bring for your child’s visit.
If your child is receiving advanced respite care, the Palliative Advanced Care Team would assess your child’s condition and provide recommendations for how to respond to your child’s change in health status. If your child becomes sick while receiving standard respite care, you will be contacted by staff for direction as to how to proceed. Together with you, Emily’s House staff will determine the best way to manage the situation. This may require you or a designated individual to pick up your child and remove him or her from respite care. If the situation requires, or Emily’s House staff is unable to contact you, EMS would be called and your child would be transferred to an acute care facility.
Please call ahead and speak with the staff if you would like to visit Emily’s House. Every effort will be made to accommodate your visit, however, it may not be appropriate given the activities and circumstances occurring in the house at that time. You might also find it helpful to take a virtual tour of Emily’s House with our Emily’s House Virtual Tour video.
Unlike Ronald McDonald House, which provides a temporary home for families who have children receiving medical care and treatments in a hospital, Emily’s House provides a home-like environment in which children with life-limiting illnesses and complex conditions can receive medical support, while their parents and siblings, have opportunity for much needed respite.