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Effect of chronic illness on children
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Chronic Illnesses in Children and Their Effect on the Families
Approximately 10% to 15% of children under 18 years of age have a
chronic physical illness or condition and the number of children with
chronic conditions has increased substantially in recent decades. It
is obvious that chronic illnesses in children do have an immense
impact on the families of these children. There are many psychological
consequences for the sufferers, their siblings and their parents.
Firstly we start by briefly looking at other consequences apart from
the symptoms of their illnesses that the patients have to deal with.
Sean Phipps's research revealed a high occurrence of a repressive
adaptive style in children with cancer. To investigate whether
repressive adaptation in the population is premorbid or reactive,
adaptive styles were considered in children with cancer at the period
of diagnosis and at 6 months and 1 year after the diagnosis. Contrast
groups included healthy children and children with serious chronic
illnesses. At diagnosis children with chronic illnesses showed levels
of repressive adaptive style similar to the cancer group. These
results suggested a move towards repressiveness in reaction to the
diagnosis of chronic illnesses that is then kept constant over time.
Results also showed distress that the patients experienced due to
their illnesses. It is a given that patients would definitely
experience distress and also sometimes repression over their own
condition but what is not so obvious is the effect that it would have
on their siblings.
Barbara Leonard in 1983 conducted a study of 77 healthy siblings of
brothers and sisters w...
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... 44, no. 11B, 3360.
· Silver,-Ellen-Johnson; Westbrook,-Lauren-E; Stein,-Ruth-E-K, (1998).
Relationship of parental psychological distress to consequences of
chronic health conditions in children.
Journal-of-Pediatric-Psychology, Vol 23(1): 5-15.
· Roos,-Susan-Gail, (1985). Chronic sorrow: A living loss.
Dissertation-Abstracts-International-Section-A:-Humanities-and-Social-Sciences.
1995 May; Vol 55(11-A): 3645.
· Stuber,-Margaret-L, (1996). Psychiatric sequelae in seriously ill
children and their families. Psychiatric-Clinics-of-North-America.
1996 Sep; Vol 19(3): 481-493.
· Tak,-Youngran, (1995). Family stress, perceived social support, and
coping of family who has a child with chronic illness.
Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering.
1995 Apr; Vol 55(10-B): 4624.
The denial of child care for her two children’s has added fear, helplessness, hopelessness, loss, of control and guilt which impacts Katy health and contributed to worsening of her health. Katy was experiencing a situational crisis because of her medical condition and her concern to provide for her children. It occurs when an individual produces an overwhelming response as they confronted with a stressful event. Factors that contribute to Katy crisis are high demand to provide for her children, denial of child care services, medical condition, and a single parent. These factors play a critical role in her health outcome and progression of her disease and psychological state. Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a life-altering event. During this time, life is not only difficult for the patient, but also for their loved ones. Families must learn to cope together and to work out the best options for the patient and the rest of the family. Although it may not be fair at times, things may need to be centered on or around the patient no matter what the circumstance. (Abbott, 2003) Sacrifices may have to be made during difficult times. Many factors are involved when dealing with chronic illnesses. Coping with chronic illnesses alter many different emotions for the patients and the loved ones. Many changes occur that are very different and difficult to get used to. (Abbott, 2003) It is not easy for someone to sympathize with you when they haven’t been in the situation themselves. No matter how many books they read or people they talk to, they cannot come close to understanding.
Mrs. Farrington was constantly worrying about allowing him out of the house or be with other kids. The hospital constantly kept correcting this behavior by stating that she needs to allow him to be like other kids but sometimes it was her first instinct to prevent hospitalization. Mainly Cody is hospitalized due to weight loss or to clean mucus out of his lungs completely. Unlike Mrs. Farrington who has to deal with the medical treatments daily, her husband is in more denial. When Cody becomes sick he understands to call the hospital but Mr. Farrington has no understanding of Cody’s medicine and such. Though studies have shown that children who are cared by their mother recover faster and are discharged earlier, Mr. Farrington behavior is very concerning (Family-Centered Care and the Pediatrician’s Role, 692). He avoids the topic overall by working constantly. Mrs. Farrington finds this behavior to be strange because if something negative happened to her, Mr. Farrington needs to know these treatments, so they aren’t neglected or performed incorrectly. However, this arrangement between the parents is not very healthy because the stress of Cody condition is completely Mrs. Farrington burden. This makes Mrs. Farrington struggle giving her other children the fair attention they deserve as
The medical family therapist assigned to our family when my father became ill suddenly a few years ago was a gift from God. The therapist helped not only my father however, she helped our family understand the severity of my Dad’s condition. My father had a tumor pressing down on his spinal cord which slowly started affecting his balance then eventually his ability to walk. My father before this condition probably never missed a day of work unless he scheduled it off. Furthermore, my Dad was involved in many different activities, and on the board of directors for our church and his local union. When this illness occurred the doctor immediately suggested sitting down with a counselor to discuss my father’s limitation, and the next course of
Each child will probably have many different kind of health issue during his or her infancy or childhood. In addition, for some children these illnesses are mild, they come and go, and they do not have negative influence on their everyday life and development. On the other hand, for some children, there are some chronic illnesses that have a huge effect on their daily life during childhood. Indeed, a chronic health condition is a health issue that last more than 3 months, and it has a big effect on on a child’s daily life, activity, and development. As a result, it demands more hospitalizations, extensive medical care, emergency care, and/or home health care. According to Weiner, “Each year in the US, 6 million children ranging
In the book Stones by William Bell it is tells a story on prejudice, the supernatural, history, it’s continuous cycle of racism, and labelling. One of the most underlying themes in the novel is Parent-Youth Relationships. Majority of the book touches base on the two main characters; Garnet Havelock and Raphella Skye’s dysfunction within both their families, the main relationships are Garnet & his Mom, Garnet & his Dad, and Raphella and her Mom. The relationship between Garnet and his Mom is offbeat because they are neither close and neither distant from each other, they have each other best interest but aren’t best friends. Garnet and
The concept of health and illness being separated into two models provides indication into the two very different but integral paradigms of how to treat patients deemed as needing care. These two models (known as the Biomedical Model and the Psychosocial Environmental Model) classify diagnosis, treatment and care in different ways which some actually share the same purpose. It is important in today’s society to be open to both models as both are used in all practices based on their similarities and their differences as they are able to “provide complimentary explanations rather than competing ones.”(Gilbert, L, Selikow, T & Walker, L., 2009:3).
It is very common for people to underestimate the importance of the developmental milestones that a human being completes throughout a lifespan. The way a newborn is looked after in it’s mothers womb, followed by its birthing and by the taking care processes during its first few years of life, determines the way a child will be able to achieve and complete the so called developmental milestones, also known as the stages of development. Anything varying from an accidental teratogen intake or several prolonged extra minutes, or even just seconds, without oxygen during birth, can cause life long developmental damages, including both cognitive and/or physical. How do parents of children afflicted with these disabilities work through the growth and development of their child, knowing that their life, both the parents and the kids’, will forever be impacted by such a seemingly small and insignificant event? How do the second-born children learn to interact, and in a way accept and look past the differences of their siblings? This paper will focus on discussing the effects that children with mental retardation and learning disabilities have on their family’s adaption to their unique approach at the developmental stages. Those above are both questions that will be considered throughout this paper via the aid of personal anecdotes from my family and individual experiences with my brother, and several other papers that reported the results from different related studies.
Depression is a mood disorder causing a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. The cause of depression is not always chemical imbalances. It is a more complex disorder, where individuals do not understand the disease have to consider depression could be from a medical condition, trauma, life circumstances, and genetic vulnerability.
According to Aberth, "disease is a constant force in human history that has had much more than just demographic repercussions"(Aberth 2007, Pg.X). It has created fear, awareness, pain and frustration for the lack of knowledge of it cause. In 1500 through the 20th century, the primary reasons for disease to spread so effectively are animals, trade routes and colonization/ imperialism. The disease was widely spread through warm climate and the geographic of the world because the virus host bacteria was able to grow and attack the human body.
Kaakinen, Gedaly-Duff, Coehlo & Hanson, (2010) report family is the biggest resource for managing care of individuals with chronic illness; family members are the main caregivers and provide necessary continuity of care. Therefore, it is important for health care providers to develop models of care based on an understanding what families are going through (Eggenberger, Meiers, Krumwiede, Bliesmer, & Earle, 2011). The family I chose to interview is in the middle of a transition in family dynamics. I used the family as a system approach as well as a structure-function theoretical framework to the effects of the changes in dynamic function. Additionally, the combinations of genogram, ecomap, adaptations of the Friedman Family Assessment model as well as Wright & Leahey’s 15 minute family interview were utilized.
Chronic diseases put people in a state of watchful awareness of their condition. While chronic conditions and the outcomes are well studied, the psychological effects of uncertainty remain in question (Baily, Lawrence, Barroso, Bixby, Michel, Muir, Strickland & Clip, 2009). The intrusion of any chronic sickness is a highly stressfu...
Primary caregivers are given an opportunity to take care of their loved ones; however, this job comes with a lot of stress and its consequences (Tsai, 2003). Primary caregivers take care of those with a chronic illness such as a family member or friend, are given a task that is so immense that it induces a lot of stress. In the previous decades, many research articles have developed studies which focused on stressors that were associated with the task of being the primary caregiver; yet, a theory surrounding this topic has not been developed until the early 2000s. Tsai (2003) developed the Theory of Caregiver Stress based on the Roy Adaptation Model to identify the caregiver’s response, perceptions, and adaptations to the stress and burden that primary caregiver’s experience.
Marriage has always been, and remains, one of Canada's most important social structures. Yet more and more marriages are ending in divorce. Canada's divorce rate is currently about fifty percent. Half of all children will witness the break up of their parents' marriage. Of these children, another half will witness the break up of a parents' second marriage, as well. (Furstenberg, Nord).
Family lifestyle refers to the way that families live and their attitude, knowledge, and habits. Moreover, family lifestyle is an important determinant of family health. There are several aspects of lifestyle that affects health such as smoking, home safety and food safety. I visited Mr. Doed Mrs. Mary in order to understand the lifestyle better. They have three children, one boy and two girls. In this report, I will describe the family’s knowledge, attitude and practice in terms of smoking, home safety and food safety.