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Prioritising Needs in the Context of Chronic Illness

Prioritising Needs in the Context of Chronic Illness Usually the diagnosis of a serious metabolic illness in a child is a catastrophic event. Most simply, my purpose is to deepen your appreciation of the consequences of such an event for both couple and family life — even if I give you only a 15-minute snapshot. As the Metabolic Social Worker and Family Therapist at a large specialist paediatric hospital, I have a long involvement with patients and their families who live with lifelong and often debilitating illness, focusing on both practical and (predominantly) emotional support. These illnesses have a huge impact on all family relationships, and the adjustments that are made are enormously variable. Second, my postgraduate training in both couple counselling and family therapy equip me to explore and analyse relationship dynamics. This can help families understand what is going on between them when a dependent child’s care and treatment becomes the focus of family life. Couples often place their personal lives on hold and focus intently on the full-time care of their child. Isolation occurs, and the restrictions on social life and family activities can cause strain. More recently, the siblings of chronically ill children have been found to be at risk of emotional http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy Wiley

Prioritising Needs in the Context of Chronic Illness

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
2008 Australian Association of Family Therapy
ISSN
0814-723X
eISSN
1467-8438
DOI
10.1375/anft.29.4.224
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Usually the diagnosis of a serious metabolic illness in a child is a catastrophic event. Most simply, my purpose is to deepen your appreciation of the consequences of such an event for both couple and family life — even if I give you only a 15-minute snapshot. As the Metabolic Social Worker and Family Therapist at a large specialist paediatric hospital, I have a long involvement with patients and their families who live with lifelong and often debilitating illness, focusing on both practical and (predominantly) emotional support. These illnesses have a huge impact on all family relationships, and the adjustments that are made are enormously variable. Second, my postgraduate training in both couple counselling and family therapy equip me to explore and analyse relationship dynamics. This can help families understand what is going on between them when a dependent child’s care and treatment becomes the focus of family life. Couples often place their personal lives on hold and focus intently on the full-time care of their child. Isolation occurs, and the restrictions on social life and family activities can cause strain. More recently, the siblings of chronically ill children have been found to be at risk of emotional

Journal

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy – Wiley

Published: Dec 1, 2008

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