Children need to play an active role in meeting their health care
needs. As your child gets older, his or her role will get larger, and you will need to do
less. Teenagers should be able to handle most of their own health care needs. Your goal as
a parent is to work yourself out of the job of direct care provider. Although your
emotionally supportive relationship continues, an adult child needs to manage his or her
own life. Elementary School
Starting when your child is young can make the transition easier. When your
child is in elementary school, you should do the following:
- Talk to your child about his or her chronic illness or disability, so he or she
is able to tell others about it.
- Teach your child any danger signs associated with the illness or disability.
- Teach your child to take his or her medicine (you'll still need to track how much
is taken).
- Teach your child specific self care for the illness or disability, such as proper
rest, managing pain, and proper nutrition and hydration.
- Encourage your child to talk to the doctor and other health care providers, and
to ask questions.
Adolescence
When your child is an adolescent, build on these skills by doing the following:
- Reassess your teen's knowledge of the chronic illness or disability, and fill in
any gaps in his or her understanding.
- Teach your teen to call the doctor if he or she experiences a danger sign
associated with the illness or disability, and to tell you about it as well.
- Teach your teen to take his or her own medicine, and to tell you how much is
taken.
- Discuss the long-term course of the illness or disability with your teen, and
what he or she might expect in the future.
- Teach your teen to go to doctor visits without you. Encourage your teen to
communicate directly with the doctor and other health care providers, and to ask
questions.
- Teach your teen to take his or her own temperature.
- Teach your teen to manage specific self-care.
- Encourage your teen to go to a teen support group.
- Encourage your teen to talk to a genetic counselor if appropriate.
- Encourage your teen to keep you informed about what he or she is doing and
feeling.
|
