How to Help Children Through a Parent's Serious Illness

When a parent has a serious or chronic illness how do you make sure your child's fears are addressed while adding additional stress and fears to their lives? This book offers specific guidance in conversations with children of all ages when a mom or dad becomes ill.

 

This practical handbook prepares parents to address children's fears with absolute honest and profound empathy."- Booklist My husband was diagnosed with cancer when our daughter was just 9 months old. We are a little over 2 years into our struggle with his illness. I found McCue and Bonn's book immensly helpful at this difficult time. It covers everything from diagnosis, to coming home from the hospital or, God forbid, the parent's death. It also covers long term illnesses.

The book is filled with practical advice. If you are struggling with a very sick parent (or other loved one) in your family right now, you need all the help you can get. After reading this book, I feel like I have the tools to help my daughter through this process whatever the outcome might be. It was incredibly helpful." - Amazon Reviewer

 

This book is a tremendous resource for families who are facing serious illness and approaching death. The book gave me helpful advice on when to seek counseling help for my children, signals of depression and failure to cope in children, how to explain about hereditary diseases, and how to help children prepare to visit the hospital. In my own situation, my husband has a muscular disease that has affected his lung/breathing processes. This disease can result in immediate death and I felt that my children needed to be prepared for that.

 

I actually handled my children's first trip to the hospital badly and they both reacted negatively--I wish I would have had this resource then! From time to time I refer back to this helpful book whenever a new situation arises and after reading it, I feel that I have a better understanding of how children see an illness, how they react to it, and how to explain it to them.

 

I'd really like to see a sequel to it that goes into areas such as what to do when the kids are in denial and don't want to know; dealing with relatives who disagree with the methods chosen on helping the child deal with the illness, and how to handle emergencies that happen at home with the ill parent. In any case, this book is a necessity for families! - Sheila at Amazon

 

McCue and Bonn should earn the gratitude of generations of young people for whom the tragedy of a parent's loss will be eased by this volume's sage advice."--Walter Cronkite Clearly written and richly researched, this book is a true how-to manual, exploring specific scenarios and offering step-by-step advice. It is sensitive to the needs of different age groups, family situations, and types of illness."--Connie Chung I loved the book. It takes difficult concepts about a difficult subject and presents them humanely and with clarity."--Richard Thompson, Ph.D., past president of the Child Life Council, and author of the only book on the theory of child life practice [A] comprehensive and compassionate approach to one of the most neglected areas in psychological health care. It is a work to which I plan on referring families and professionals."--Ernest R. Katz, Ph.D., Director, Psychosocial and Behavioral Sciences, Jonathan Jacques Children's Cancer Center  

 

Author: Kathleen McCue and Ron Bonn
St. Martin's Press, 244 pages, paperback

Kathleen McCue, M.A., C.C.L.S., is supervisor of the child life program at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and past president of the National Child Life Council, her profession's international association. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ron Bonn has won three Emmy awards for his work as a TV news producer and writer. He lives in Closter, New Jersey.