Chronic illness and the family life-cycle

Chronic illness is currently the outstanding health issue in the United States. It creates increased family stress, requires constant adaptation by the family members and poses a challenge to nurses to better understand and meet the needs of the family as well as the individual. This paper presents a psychosocial typology of chronic illness and discusses the importance of time phasing of the chronic illness. A conceptual framework for analysing the interaction of chronic illness with family and individual life-cycles is outlined. Knowledge of life-cycle stressors is essential for nurses to better delineate the relationship between the vertical and horizontal life stressors which affect the family system.