The Child & Family Experiences of Illness Flashcards
How does a child’s significant illness impact the family?
-Systems = interactions + patterns in beh within families
-Illness enters system & get feedback (within = what family knows already/has been exposed to, & what comes out externally) affect ind’s beh - better/worse
-Way ind’s beh altered depends on perspectives + emotional state of parents (key stakeholders)
-Get changes to family dynamics - ind’s identity
What is the impact of an illness on the child, & why?
-Children = identity (of who they are) not fixed
-Identity via their illness (how see themselves in future)
–> affects mental health in future
-More emotional stressors = relationships affected
-More support systems needed
What role does support play in childhood illness?
-Sufficient social support for families = better clinical outcomes
–> e.g., early interventions (paed care) from diagnosis can relieve int/ext factors - stress + social surroundings (people)
-Must be balance between int/ext factors for best coping
How can families be affected by chronic (long-term) health condition in a child?
-Expense & time commitment
-Confusion due to conflicting systems of health care management
-Lost opportunities (e.g., family members providing primary care to child - can’t work)
-Loss of hope for “ideal” child
-Social isolation (can’t participate in society)
-Siblings may resent extra attention ill child gets
Would this be different if child had acute/1 off illness?
What is involved in the “ideal” child?
Healthy - meet milestones
-Able bodied - social stigma
-Goals, aspirations of child
Role of healthcare professionals in chronic childhood treatment - what should/shouldn’t they do?
-Must be compassionate & non-judgemental:
*develop rapport
*avoid confrontation
*address any fears (will the child die?)
*subjective symptom severity - must attempt to take ind perspective of child’s symptoms
*understand child’s sit in family
Health contact points for children & their families?
(just for minor illnesses)
What may be involved in hospital stays?
-Admission – history, examination, investigation, management plan
-Continued observations & treatment by nurses
-Planned 3 times daily medical reviews
-Discharge explanation & plan
What must be considered in managing child’s treatment?
-How child feels
-Child’s experience
-How family system reacts - feedback from within & out
-Ext/out = interactions with healthcare
What communications may be involved in child hospital stay?
-Needs of child & parent reassured
-Progress reported…
-Handover of care
-Advice for parents
-W/ primary care - ongoing clinical needs - addressing parent’s concerns
What impacts on experiences/comes back into system (int) from ext system???
Child’s emotional development
What is the attachment theory?
Developed understanding of others - informs understanding of self & then understanding of future relationships
-at diff ages/stages of development
What is the internal working model of attachment?
-Child = shaped by their interactions with the world and the people around them
What is attachment?
Type of affectional bond where a person’s sense of security is bound up in the relationship
How do people develop different attachment styles?
Learnt interactions w/ early care givers –> superimpose onto other relationships in future
What are internal working models?
Mental representation of child’s expectation for future relationships - based on early care giver’s relationship w/ child (learnt interaction style)
-Emotionally driven system
-Occurs as emotional centres develop faster than cognitive oens