What parents can do to make a child's chronic illness easier
more behaviour problems and anxiety. This complicates the problems of illness management, affects the relationship between parents and children and creates yet another source of stress for parents.
These problems affect the whole family, but also extend to the community. Rates of childhood conditions such as asthma, diabetes, eczema and cystic fibrosis are on the rise. Up to a quarter of Australian children are diagnosed with one or more long-term health conditions.
When families struggle to deal with the demands of their child’s illness at home and to stick to a treatment plan, the impacts extend beyond the family circle to a health system grappling to handle increasing costs of care, schools struggling to deal with special needs, and the impacts of stress and depression on parents.
How can parents help?
Having a child with a chronic illness is stressful for parents, children, and their siblings and unfortunately, higher levels of stress can make the child’s illness worse. So far, research has found mixed effects for the effectiveness of parenting interventions with asthma and diabetes specifically, but there are promising signs that such interventions can increase parents’ confidence, reduce stress, and improve child behaviour.- Sticking to a consistent family routine can help to reduce stress. This also means having realistic expectations about what parents and children can accomplish, and finding effective ways to balance work and family. Getting enough rest, healthy food and exercise is also important for everyone.
- Making sure the child’s illness is well managed, and keeping their daily life as normal as possible is vital. Making regular visits to the doctor and other health professionals, collaborating to develop a treatment plan that works for the child and family, and regularly reviewing how their child is faring and whether their management plan is still effective are essential.
- Children sometimes need help recognising when they are feeling stressed. Parents can teach specific strategies such as showing their child how to slow down their breathing and say positive, helpful things to them when they are feeling tense or stressed.
- Talking to children openly and listening to their worries is important. Parents and children often worry about very different things: for example, parents may be most concerned about medical emergencies (like a severe asthma attack), while children are often more worried about appearing different to their peers (coughing during school assembly).
- Talking openly and honestly with siblings about what is happening at a level they can understand shouldn’t be forgotten. Caring for a child with a chronic health condition takes up a lot of parents’ time and energy. Siblings can feel worried, stressed, angry, or left out. Often there is less attention for them, as the family concentrates on the unwell child, and they may feel uninformed or uninvolved in what is happening.
There will be extra challenges
Most parents make allowances for their child’s behaviours and emotional reactions when they are unwell. This is natural – there is little point trying to make a feverish child clean up their room, and a special treat or extra attention can be comforting.
