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When your child is diagnosed with a stroke, a variety of emotions and questions may arise that can feel overwhelming. At the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center, we can connect you to resources to help ensure that you and your family are supported in understanding and managing the journey ahead.

Coping and supportive resources

Internal programs and resources

  • The Hale Family Center for Families is dedicated to supporting families through their time at Boston Children’s. The center provides information for families on questions they may have about diagnoses, community resources, or hospital resources. For more information, please call 617-355-6279.
  • The Parent Advisory Board is composed of parents of current and former patients who are dedicated to enhancing the center by providing their valuable experiences, knowledge, and expertise to other families.
  • The Family-to-Family Program is a program within the center that offers families support by connecting them with other families that have experienced pediatric stroke. For more information, please call 617-919-1419.
  • The Social Work Department at Boston Children’s is made up of a variety of professionals and programs dedicated to integrating the social and psychological needs of patients and families with their health care. Social workers, resource specialists, and advocates form a network that addresses the challenges families face, increases accessibility to health care and other human services, and serves as a bridge between the hospital setting and a patient's family life, home, and community
  • Get detailed information about visiting Boston Children’s Hospital and other resources available for families.

External resources

Boston Children’s does not unreservedly endorse the information found on the websites listed; these are provided as a supportive resource for our families.

  • Family Ties of Massachusetts provides families with support groups, information, referral services, and training opportunities to parents of children and youth with special needs.
  • The Children’s Hemiplegia and Stroke Association offers Hemi-Kids, a friendly and supportive online email discussion group. Hemi-Kids was created to serve a group of children who tend to “fall through the cracks” by serving thousands of parents, mostly moms, of children who have hemiplegia or hemiparesis.
  • The AHA/ASA Support Network offers a pediatric stroke discussion board where pediatric stroke survivors and their families can connect with other patients and their caregivers.
  • The Child Neurology Foundation Family Support and Empowerment Program offers families a free, direct connection with an experienced, compassionate peer support specialist to help navigate the journey of disease diagnosis, treatment, and management for a child living with a neurologic condition.
  • Pediatric Stroke Warriors is committed to serving and supporting the needs of children, their families, and the medical professionals involved in their care by building community awareness for pediatric stroke.
  • The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
  • The National Stroke Association delivers education and other programs focused on the prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and support for all impacted by stroke in an effort reduce the incidence and impact of stroke.
  • The World Pediatric Stroke Association aims to raise awareness, knowledge, and research about pediatric stroke. Its medical advisory board includes Miya Bernson-Leung, MD, EdM, and Laura Lehman, MD, two of our attending physicians and medical researchers here at Boston Children’s Hospital.
  • The World Stroke Association is a merger of the International Stroke Society and the World Stroke Federation with the purpose of creating one world voice for stroke. Their mission is to reduce the global burden of stroke through prevention, treatment, and long term care.
  • The mission of the Brain Injury Association of America is to advance awareness, research, treatment, and education, and to improve the quality of life for all people affected by brain injury.
  • The Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts provides support and resources to survivors and their families, has prevention programs to increase education on the impact of brain injuries, and engages in legislative advocacy to improve policies impacting survivors and their families.
  • The Child Neurology Foundation serves as a collaborative center of education and support for caregivers and their children with neurologic conditions.