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Caregivers: Lack of Help
Caregivers: Lack of Help
Caregivers of children with special health care needs often do not get the respite care they need, according to the findings of a recent study.
Researchers found that families with private insurance have more unmet respite care needs than those with public coverage. They also found that families or caregivers who need respite care the most – those caring for children with the most severe functional limitations and unstable conditions – often do not get it.
"This is an issue that doesn't get a lot of attention," said Savithri Nageswaran, lead researcher for the study and a paediatrician at Brenner Children's Hospital of Wake Forest Baptist. The study grew out of discussions among members of Forsyth County's Pediatric Community Alliance, a coalition of parents, professionals and organizations committed to improving the quality of care for children with serious illnesses.
Nageswaran directs the pediatric palliative care program at Brenner Children's Hospital, a program that serves children with complex needs. These children are surviving and living longer today because of advances in technology, Nageswaran said. There has also been a shift from caring for children with complex needs in institutions to caring for them in the community, she added.
However, these patients have complicated health problems that require caregivers to use complex technology at home, Nageswaran said. The same health issues often also require the children to take 10 to 15 different medications, which means family members have to be alert every few hours to administer them.
Respite care, or temporary relief from caregiving, provides much needed help to families and caregivers in the form of a break from caregiving duties. "These parents have to go through so much," Nageswaran said. "They do it with a lot of love. But caregiving is not an easy task, and families need help caring for their children with special needs."
Caregivers of children with severe functional limitations had greater unmet respite care needs than those without limitations, as did caregivers of children with unstable health conditions versus those with stable health conditions, according to the study. In addition, the study shows that caregivers with public insurance have far fewer unmet respite care needs than those with private insurance.
Nageswaran suggested that this may be because many private insurance plans are not comprehensive enough to provide support services such as respite care for children with special needs.
REHACARE.de; Quelle: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
- More about the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center at: www.wfubmc.edu
