Bridging Paediatric Palliative Care Across Asia
Global Treehouse and Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN) partnered together for dramatic expansion of the Magnify Tool to make impacts for children’s palliative care providers during 2025.
We culminated our work together at the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) conference in Manila, Philippines. Co-hosted by our organisations, we presented about the power of using the Magnify Tool, a resource designed for and by providers to use their own data to improve the quality of care they offer to children and families with palliative care needs. Over 35 participants engaged in an interactive workshop where they had the opportunity to learn about what the Magnify Tool is and hear examples of providers using the tool. In small groups, participants explored the variety of metrics on a particular area of data and service information. This session built on months of work with two rounds of virtual “sprints” with committed paediatric palliative care providers in workshops.
“APHN is growing a group of professional providers in the region who are interested in using data for quality improvement. We’re proud to see rapid growth among members through a strategic and focused commitment to track and act on meaningful service indicators, that will impact children and families across the Asia Pacific.”
Across a few months, from May to October 2025, 13 paediatric palliative care teams showed the power of strategically focusing on improving their practices with the Magnify Tool and their own service data. Colleagues were able to get on the same page about areas to focus on for quality improvement together and learn from other leaders across the region. The recent round of sprints brought together paediatric palliative care teams from across Asia Pacific, revealing both unique challenges and shared commitments to improving children's care, including:
In the Philippines, a large children’s hospital showcased remarkable growth over the past few years. Coming out of this process, the team made plans to strengthen data management and develop educational materials.
Indonesian providers are tackling education head-on, recognising the critical need to train nurses in paediatric palliative care. With no existing specialised training programs, this group of colleagues is launching webinars and exploring collaborations to build capacity.
A Japanese team is innovating in staff well-being, planning to implement the first pediatric oncology burnout assessment tool validated for their Japanese context across a variety of facilities.
Leaders from other countries shared common themes: the need for collaborative practice, human-centred quality improvement and turning data collection into a catalyst for cultural change.
These teams are transforming paediatric palliative care across the region - one child, one family at a time - through focused, strategic, measurable steps.
Thank you to the leadership of APHN, including Dr Chong Poh-Heng and Tah-Nern Cheng, and to our tremendous facilitation partners: Dr Ng Su-Fang, Dr Smriti Khanna, Dr Nickson Tai and Dr Spandana Rayala.
“As a palliative care practitioner and paediatrician, it was so wonderful to facilitate a small group and explore in-depth the work happening within and across teams. For paediatric palliative care teams ready to examine their own practices, download the Magnify Tool - and most importantly - focus on an area of your service you want to better understand related to your data.”
