Mesothelioma Cancer- What to tell children
by Paul Curran
zone3
Telling children about any serious illness or disease is not easy. The
best approach is a direct one as children, even very young ones, often
sense that something is not right. Their fears need to tackled and honesty
is the best policy.
The amount of information you should give them depends on their age and
how grown up they are. Being honest is one thing but giving them all the
information at once may be too much. Try spreading it out a bit to ease
the shock of the inevitable outcome.
Questions can be answered on a 'need to know basis' initially but as
more hospital vists are undertaken and the patient is unwell at times then
more detail needs to be offered. Getting the same question over and over
again from young children can be difficult at times but it should be
realised that this is a normal part of their development.
Teenagers may have a particularly hard time as they now have to cope
with additional strong emotions and extra responsibilies, as well as the
usual emotions which are part of their development into adults. They may
need to turn to others outside the family if they find it difficult to
talk to family members e.g.family friend, teacher or counsellor.
Grief raises its head everywhere and it is important to reasure
children that it is not their fault that this illness has happened. It
seems to be common amongst children that they feel they are to blame and
these feelings could last for some time.
Additionally, they may need to
be put right about what they have heard from friends and other people as
it may not be correct.
Children need to be dealt with sensitively but honestly. But manage the
communication of information according to age, maturity and
circumstances.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and
webmaster at Information on
Mesothelioma, providing articles and information on asbestos and
mesothelioma. This article may be reproduced in its entirety provided
the resource paragraph below is included with the url kept active.
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