ABSTRACT
THIS BOOK emphasizes understanding the role that psychological, biological, and environmental factors play in the development of illness. In contrast to this focus, this chapter discusses the ways children’s chronic illnesses affect their lives as well as the lives of those around them. During childhood, rapid physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development normally occurs. Although childhood is viewed in terms of its potential as a period of growth, for children with chronic illnesses the obstacles to development sometimes seem to outweigh the opportunities. The experience of living with a chronic childhood illness also presents very real obstacles for the families of ill children. Just as children are challenged by their medical condition, so too are their families who often must make considerable changes in their living patterns to accommodate the special needs of their children. The presence of a chronic childhood illness affects not only long-term goals and planning for the family but also day-to-day decisions and activities. At one extreme, some families of chronically ill children have had to relocate to be geographically closer to needed medical services. Although beneficial for the child, such a change often comes at considerable financial, personal, and emotional expense for the entire family. At a more mundane level, routine tasks with which most families have little difficulty, such as finding child care or an occasional babysitter, can become seemingly insurmountable chores for the family of a chronically ill child.
