Resources, Education, and Awareness in Children’s Palliative Care (REACH) is a growing series of palliative care courses designed to equip healthcare providers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to deliver compassionate, comprehensive, and effective care for babies, children, and young people living with serious illness.
Every day, children around the world experience pain and suffering that could be prevented or relieved. Too often, this suffering persists not because treatment does not exist, but because frontline healthcare providers have not had access to the training and support needed to provide high-quality palliative care. REACH was created to help close this gap.
Developed specifically for healthcare professionals working in diverse settings, REACH courses support participants in building practical skills in symptom management, communication, psychosocial support, and family-centred care. The courses are designed for multidisciplinary teams — including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, and allied health professionals — recognizing that quality palliative care depends on collaboration across disciplines.
REACH also includes tailored learning pathways adapted for specific healthcare contexts, including humanitarian and emergency settings, as well as regionally and country-adapted courses that reflect local realities and healthcare priorities.
Using the internationally recognized Project ECHO model, REACH delivers expert-guided online learning sessions that combine focused teaching with rich case-based discussion. Each session creates a collaborative learning community, connecting healthcare providers who are navigating similar challenges: caring for children with limited resources, managing pain and distress, supporting families through difficult conversations, and balancing honesty with hope.
Importantly, REACH offers a highly cost-effective and scalable approach to workforce development. By enabling healthcare providers to remain within their own communities and clinical settings while learning online, REACH extends specialist knowledge to many more clinicians than traditional in-person training models allow. In essence, REACH moves knowledge — not people.
At the heart of every REACH course is partnership. Courses are developed collaboratively through dedicated leadership teams that bring together REACH educators, local organizations, and healthcare providers. This ensures that course content is locally relevant, culturally appropriate, and responsive to the realities of each healthcare system.
REACH builds upon the strong foundation of the Sunflower Children’s Network, an initiative of Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration. Over the past eight years, the Sunflower Children’s Network has partnered with more than 30 organizations and hospitals to deliver over 50 online palliative care courses, reaching more than 5,000 unique healthcare providers worldwide.
The Sunflower Children’s Network is committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of where they live, can access care that relieves suffering and supports dignity, comfort, and quality of life.
Healthcare institutions, professional associations, educators, and organizations interested in advancing children’s palliative care are invited to join the growing REACH community.
Together, we can ensure that foundational pediatric palliative care knowledge reaches every corner of the world where it is needed most — ensuring that geography and resources do not determine whether a child receives compassionate and dignified care.
For more information about REACH or partnership opportunities through the Sunflower Children’s Network, please contact the Team at Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration.
“Too many children around the world continue to experience unnecessary suffering simply because healthcare providers have not had access to training in palliative care. REACH was created to change that reality. By connecting healthcare providers through practical, accessible, and locally relevant learning, we are helping build the confidence and skills needed to improve the lives of children and families facing serious illness. We believe that where a child lives should never determine whether they receive compassionate care.”
— Dr. Megan Doherty, Director, Sunflower Children’s Network, Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration
