The Necessity of Digital Innovation in Compassionate Care
Emerging technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly reshaping how knowledge is accessed, how services are delivered and how individuals engage with complex systems across society. At Global Treehouse, we were founded with deep curiosity about cultivating innovative approaches to support children, families and providers during vulnerable moments. We’ve actively explored how AI and technology can significantly benefit the palliative care sector, including the launch of our Magnify Tool as a free online resource. We've witnessed how technology has expanded access to care. With this understanding, we see a significant opportunity: to ensure that children’s palliative care (CPC) serves as a model for how technology can support humanity at its most vulnerable moments. We are launching an initiative around technology and AI for children’s palliative care to scale this vital work further.
Children’s palliative care — the full continuum of care that seeks to ensure the best possible quality of life for children with life-limiting conditions — is profoundly human and relational. Precisely because of this, we believe it has the potential to benefit greatly from digital innovation that amplifies compassion.
Amplifying Compassion, Not Replacing It
Our vision is that technology and AI within healthcare should be a force for strengthening, not substituting, compassionate care. We are responding to challenges that limit access to high-quality care globally, including:
Families are navigating immense emotional and logistical burdens related to the care of their seriously ill child.
Professionals and providers are working against systemic shortages and entrenched information silos.
Persistent equity gaps worldwide, particularly in low-resource settings, where access to expertise and quality care remains most limited.
Building This Together
Our goal is not to become technology builders, but to act as a bridge — ensuring that what is developed by innovators genuinely serves families and providers with quality and care. Over the coming months, we will:
Learn alongside the sector: We aim to understand what is already working, where families and providers see benefits, and where ethical or logistical concerns persist. As an organisation, we are already testing tools internally and are committed to fostering open dialogue across children’s palliative care and technology spaces.
Co-develop resources: Global Treehouse collaborates with stakeholders to co-create resources through user-centered design. With upcoming projects, we’ll invite two-way communication to refine resources.
Showcase innovation: We will launch opportunities to spotlight promising approaches and highlight where innovation can rise to meet urgent challenges. Recognising that children and families in low-resource settings face the steepest barriers, we are especially focused on surfacing effective, adaptable and cost-efficient solutions.
A Human Right in the Digital Age
This initiative is ultimately about securing a fundamental right: every child deserves palliative care that enables them to live life to the fullest. By advancing responsible, ethical and human-centred uses of technology and AI, Global Treehouse intends to ensure children’s palliative care is not a digital afterthought, but a global example of how innovation can serve humanity with integrity and compassion.