When Your Child Has a Chronic Medical Illness


Book Description

Written by leading mental health professionals, this warm and accessible parenting book for children with chronic illnesses offers clear, practical guidance for all aspects of the journey. When you're focused on ensuring your child gets the best possible treatments for their symptoms, it's easy to overlook or dismiss the impact the illness can have on your relationships and emotions. This book places your psychological well-being front and center, so you can be the best caregiver possible for your child.




Ways to Help Chronically Ill Children


Book Description

All kids get sick now and then, but children who suffer from chronic illnesses don’t recover quickly from their diseases. They have to deal with being sick for long periods of time, sometimes indefinitely. Dealing with a chronic illness is no fun. Often it means staying in the hospital or at home, away from school and friends. It can also mean enduring painful medical procedures. All of this can make a chronically ill child feel sad, scared, and lonely at times. You may wonder if there is anything you can do to help. Whether you already know a person with a chronic illness or you want to make some new friends, the best gift you can give is your time. This book discusses ten different ways that you can help a child who must deal with a chronic illness. Some of the ideas are big, others are small, but all of them can make a true difference in the life of a chronically ill child.




The Pain Survival Guide


Book Description

"10 clinically proven strategies from the leading experts on pain management--Cover"




A Different Dream for My Child


Book Description

Devotional meditations for parents of critically or chronically ill children.Author Jolene Philo shares lessons from her own life, as well as the stories of other parents.




Extreme Parenting


Book Description

[A] valuable addition to the literature on chronic paediatric illness... The book provides an in depth understanding of the path through chronic illness, illustrating the obvious effects on the child, but also the parents, siblings and the family as a whole across the spectrum from the psychological and social to the physical... There is much to be learnt from this book and it deserves careful reading.' - from the Foreword by Hilton Davis, Emeritus Professor of Child Health Psychology, King's College London Parents of children with chronic illnesses experience 'extreme parenting'. Parenting under extreme circumstances, like an extreme sport, challenges us to find our true strengths, to push ourselves physically and emotionally. This book is a guide and a source of support for parents of children with long-term illnesses. Sharon Dempsey argues that by helping parents to cope with their child's condition we are ultimately helping the child, and that parents are better able to live a full, enjoyable life if they have an awareness of strategies and knowledge to cope with the difficulties of dealing with their child with a chronic illness. The guide is packed with practical advice, models of exploration and lists of action points, and will empower parents to be good advocates for their children. It will also provide health professionals with invaluable insights into the demands of living with chronic illness.




In the Shadow of Illness


Book Description

A revealing account of how families adapt to living with a chronically ill child What is it like to live with a child who has a chronic, life-threatening disease? What impact does the illness have on well siblings in the family? Myra Bluebond-Langner suggests that understanding the impact of the illness lies not in identifying deficiencies in the lives of those affected, but in appreciating how family members carry on with their lives in the face of the disease's intrusion. The Private Worlds of Dying Children, Bluebond-Langner's previous book, now considered a classic in the field, explored the world of terminally ill children. In her new book, she turns her attention to the lives of those who live in the shadow of chronic illness: the parents and well siblings of children who have cystic fibrosis. Through a series of narrative portraits, she draws us into the daily lives of nine families of children at different points in the natural history of the illness—from diagnosis through the terminal phase. In these portraits, as family members talk about their experiences in their own words, we see how parents, well siblings, and the ill children themselves struggle, in different ways, to contain the intrusion of the disease into their lives. Bluebond-Langner looks at how parents adjust their priorities and their idea of what constitutes a normal life, how they try to balance the needs of other family members while caring for the ill child, and how they see the future. This context helps us understand how well siblings view the illness and how they relate to their ill sibling and parents. Since the issues raised are not unique to cystic fibrosis but are common to other chronic and life-threatening illnesses, this book will be of interest to all who study, care for, or live with the seriously ill.




When Pete's Dad Got Sick


Book Description

Pete is both angry and sad when his father becomes sick and can no longer race and play with him, but his father explains that, while he will probably never have fast legs again, he can still teach Pete about running. Includes note to parents.




Helping Children and Adolescents with Chronic and Serious Medical Conditions


Book Description

Praise for Helping Children and Adolescents with Chronic and Serious Medical Conditions A Strengths-Based Approach "Helping Children and Adolescents with Chronic and Serious Medical Conditionsprovides a wellspring of knowledge, from the theoretical to the clinical. The many vignettes and transcriptions immeasurably enrich the reader's understanding of the interventions and their broader applicability."—Barbara M. Sourkes, PhDJohn A. Kriewall and Elizabeth A. Haehl Director of Pediatric Palliative CareLucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford An important and practical guide to providing compassionate care and support to medically compromised children and their families Helping Children and Adolescents with Chronic and Serious Medical Conditions: A Strengths-Based Approach presents practical guidance on integrating the latest research into evidence-based practice to ensure the best client care. Edited by a top scholar in the field, this essential resource contains contributions from renowned specialists in various helping fields. Utilizing an inter-professional perspective, helping professionals will draw from the experiences and expertise of a wide range of medical professionals, providing a "window" into their roles, responsibilities, and challenges, offering the most effective approaches for working with this special population of children and their families. Equipping practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to encourage children's resilience and help them build their emotional strengths, this book uses a caring yet authoritative tone and discusses: The emotional impact of illness on the individual and the family Child-life practice in hospitals School-based interventions for children and adolescents with medical conditions How to meet the spiritual as well as emotional needs of children with chronic and life-threatening illness With thoughtful coverage of positive helping approaches that encourage family and individual strengths, Helping Children and Adolescents with Chronic and Serious Medical Conditions: A Strengths-Based Approach is an invaluable resource for social workers, teachers, school counselors, and other mental health and medical professionals who work with medically challenged children and adolescents in every setting.




When Children Feel Pain


Book Description

Childhood pain is a widespread problem, yet it often goes untreated. Drawing on the latest research, two leading voices on pediatric pain show parents and medical practitioners how to handle children’s pain, from bumps and bruises to chronic illnesses, providing strategies that make a real difference in kids’ lives.




How to Be Sick


Book Description

This life-affirming, instructive, and thoroughly inspiring book is a must-read for anyone who is - or who might one day be - sick. It can also be the perfect gift of guidance, encouragement, and uplifting inspiration to family, friends, and loved ones struggling with the many terrifying or disheartening life changes that come so close on the heels of a diagnosis of a chronic condition or life-threatening illness. Authentic and graceful, How to be Sick reminds us of our limitless inner freedom, even under high degrees of suffering and pain. The author - who became ill while a university law professor in the prime of her career - tells the reader how she got sick and, to her and her partner's bewilderment, stayed that way. Toni had been a longtime meditator, going on long meditation retreats and spending many hours rigorously practicing, but soon discovered that she simply could no longer engage in those difficult and taxing forms. She had to learn ways to make "being sick" the heart of her spiritual practice - and through truly learning how to be sick, she learned how, even with many physical and energetic limitations, to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy. And whether we ourselves are ill or not, we can learn these vital arts from Bernhard's generous wisdom in How to Be Sick.