4 Working with Children
Introduction
In this module, we will be discussing the specific needs of children who receive home care services. We will discuss why children may need home care and how the Home Health Aide/Personal Care Aide can best help meet the physical and psychological needs of children and their families. We will explore children’s growth and development starting from infancy and ending with adolescence. We will examine how children may react to stress and the various problems that may affect families such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental illness. Finally, we will discuss how to help children cope with stress and to strengthen families.
Why Children May Need Home Care
Children may face a number of situations in which home care is helpful to provide temporary care to recover from a medical illness or injury, or even long-term care if the child has a chronic illness or disability. Children who have sustained wounds, burns, or injury from a trauma such as a motor vehicle or sporting accident may benefit from receiving home care services. The child may need special medical care to treat wounds, perform dressing changes and to receive medications such as intravenous (IV) antibiotics (medications that are administered through a catheter into a vein). The child is able to receive the medical attention they need within their own home, while also reducing the financial burden on parents. Hospitalizations are very expensive.
Children who are mentally or physically disabled will also benefit from services provided by a home health care team. Just as in caring for an adult with a disability, children with mental or physical disabilities can receive care from a team of physicians, nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, and a home health aide/personal care aide. By receiving home care services, the child may remain in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by the people and things they love, while also receiving necessary medical care and assistance with their activities of daily living (ADLs). Home care services for children with disabilities allows them to live as normal a life as possible with their family rather than living in a long-term care facility.
Children can have chronic illnesses just as adults do. Muscular dystrophy is a progressive disease in which there is a gradual wasting away of muscle. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder which affects motor development. Children with these disorders have difficulty with using their muscles and may need assistance with self-care such as feeding, toileting, and bathing. Children who have suffered from a head or spinal cord injury that has caused permanent brain damage and/or loss of function may also need assistance with self-care. A person with paraplegia (inability to use the lower part of the body) or quadriplegia (inability to use both the upper and lower body) is not able to fully care for themselves. Children also suffer from chronic healt