Using an innovative, action research approach, Vickers explores the lives of women who work full time while caring for a child with significant chronic illness or disability. She demonstrates that such women can be disconnected from those around them, unsupported and overwhelmed with responsibility at home and work.

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.

Children and young people suffering from long-term conditions require continuing support and nursing care throughout their lives. Nursing Care of Children and Young People with Chronic Illness explores chronic disease management in the context of recent developments, including the National Service Framework for Children. It addresses the aetiology of chronic illness and the impact on the child’s family. It also explores holistic approaches to caring for their social, physical and psychological needs, and highlights the importance of the nurse’s role in promoting children and their parents as ‘expert patients’. Nursing Care of Children and Young People with Chronic Illness is a comprehensive, up-to-date resource for nursing students and practitioners on the context, theory and practice of assessing health needs, and the delivery of holistic care and services within a variety of care settings, to enable them to meet the changing needs of children and young people with chronic illnesses and diseases, and their families. The first nursing-specific text related to the care of children & young people with chronic illness Incorporates case studies & scenarios throughout to enable readers to gain an understanding of the application of concepts & theories in practice Covers care aspects of the child and young person in different settings including tertiary, secondary, primary health care and the home Written in the context of the NSF for Children

[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.

As medical science has become increasingly refined and effective, greater numbers of children and adolescents are surviving diseases that previously carried a more guarded prognosis. Yet chronically ill young people face a multitude of adjustment challenges, including academic difficulties and peer and family issues. Filling a crucial void in pediatric psychology, this volume assembles the latest knowledge about the impact of major diseases on learning and behavior, examines cognitive toxicities associated with current pharmacotherapies and medical procedures, and presents strategies for successfully reintegrating chronically ill students into the classroom. Highlighting important new developments in assessment and intervention, the volume emphasizes the need for team-based collaboration and training across hospital, outpatient, and classroom settings.

This book aims to help medical staff and carers relate to parents in ways that facilitate their adaptation to their child's illness. The key to this is in effective communication.