Child and Family Adjustment to Chronic Childhood Illness
Faryhan Farouk Helmy;
Abstract
172
SUMMARY
Chronic illnesses are defined as conditions that last at least 3 months, require extensive hospitalization or-in home health services, or at the time of diagnosis are likely to do so.
Recent medical and surgical advances have improved markedly the morbidity and mortality rates of chronically ill children. Those children with many diverse conditions, surviving to adult hood, are able to attend school, and became a more important part of medical practice.
The daily burdens of care on the families and children with chronic illness results in major psychological and social needs, and increase the risk for psychosocial disturbances. Many children with chronic illness have a distorted View of their bodies, believing their disability to be very prominent or disfiguring. This leads the child to have low self-esteem along with a gloomy view about his illness and the prospects for the future. There are indications that there is approximately two folds increase in mental health problems among children with chronic illness.
There is little empirical evidence to suggest that children with specific conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, or cancer differ substantially in the type or degree of maladjustment. Although these children differ from each other in many ways, they face common life experiences and problems based on generic dimensions of their conditions rather than on idiosyncratic characteristics of any specific disease entity.
Mothers of chronic ill children are more likely than fathers to respond in a distressed manner and show depression symptoms. These
SUMMARY
Chronic illnesses are defined as conditions that last at least 3 months, require extensive hospitalization or-in home health services, or at the time of diagnosis are likely to do so.
Recent medical and surgical advances have improved markedly the morbidity and mortality rates of chronically ill children. Those children with many diverse conditions, surviving to adult hood, are able to attend school, and became a more important part of medical practice.
The daily burdens of care on the families and children with chronic illness results in major psychological and social needs, and increase the risk for psychosocial disturbances. Many children with chronic illness have a distorted View of their bodies, believing their disability to be very prominent or disfiguring. This leads the child to have low self-esteem along with a gloomy view about his illness and the prospects for the future. There are indications that there is approximately two folds increase in mental health problems among children with chronic illness.
There is little empirical evidence to suggest that children with specific conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, or cancer differ substantially in the type or degree of maladjustment. Although these children differ from each other in many ways, they face common life experiences and problems based on generic dimensions of their conditions rather than on idiosyncratic characteristics of any specific disease entity.
Mothers of chronic ill children are more likely than fathers to respond in a distressed manner and show depression symptoms. These
Other data
| Title | Child and Family Adjustment to Chronic Childhood Illness | Other Titles | توافق الطفل والاسره مع امراض الطفوله المزمنه | Authors | Faryhan Farouk Helmy | Issue Date | 2002 |
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