Related Experiment Videos
How parents and families cope with chronic renal failure
J M Reynolds1, M E Garralda, R A Jameson
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Booth Hall Children's Hospital.
Insights
Childhood chronic renal failure significantly disrupts family life, particularly for parents of children requiring hospital hemodialysis. While stress increased, some psychosocial support was found, though social and financial support decreased for some parents.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Family Psychology
- Childhood Chronic Illness
Background:
- Childhood chronic renal failure presents significant challenges to family well-being.
- Understanding the psychosocial impact on families is crucial for developing effective support strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of childhood chronic renal failure on family life.
- To compare families with children of varying illness severity to healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Comparative study contrasting families of children with chronic renal failure (varying severity) with healthy controls.
- Assessment of family life disruption, parental mental health, marital impact, and psychosocial support.
Main Results:
- Family life disruption was most pronounced in families with children on hospital hemodialysis.
- Parents of severely ill children showed a tendency towards more mental health problems.
- Increased subjective stress and some psychosocial support were reported, but social and financial support decreased for some parents.
Conclusions:
- The severity of childhood chronic renal failure significantly impacts family dynamics and parental well-being.
- Targeted psychosocial support is needed, particularly for families facing severe illness and reduced social/financial resources.
- While marital impact was reported, marital breakdown was not directly correlated with illness status.
Abstract:
We studied the effects on the family of childhood chronic renal failure by contrasting children with varying degrees of severity of illness with healthy controls. Disruption of family life was most common in families with the more severely ill children (on hospital haemodialysis) and there was a tendency for more mental health problems in the parents in this group. Although more of these parents reported that the child's illness had had an impact on the marriage, marital break up was not related to illness status. There were indications that illness had resulted in an increase of subjective stress but also of support in a number of psychosocial areas for parents, especially those in the more severely affected group. Nevertheless at the time of assessment, fewer mothers in this group were deriving support from their social life and fewer fathers of ill children from their jobs or finances.