ABSTRACT
Caring for a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness places tremendous stress on a family. The current state of medical diagnosis and therapeutics is such that the number of long-term survivors of life-threatening illnesses grows daily and represents a major challenge for preventive mental health care in pediatrics. As the patient's illness and treatment evolve and change over time, so do family members' reactions, coping, and adaptation. Delivery of services to the patient and family should begin at the time of initial evaluation and diagnosis and continue throughout the course of illness and its follow-up, whether this be recovery or death. This chapter describes some of the issues affecting children's and families' coping with the life-threatening or terminal illness of a child and highlight the roles of mental health practitioners in facilitating successful adaptation.
