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Call for attention for Children of Seriously Ill Parents

Care for the children of seriously ill parents.


Am I just doing it?

When someone is seriously ill, everything is focused on providing the best possible care to the patient. The sick patient is central to everything. When this patient is also a father or mother, there is often little or no attention for the children. The position paper “I just matter, don't I?” calls on governments, policy makers and healthcare providers to pay attention to the children of seriously ill parents.

A neglected child

Everyone can imagine that children of seriously ill parents have many questions about their family situation. The period of illness and possible death of the parent has an enormous impact on a child's life. In order to increase the attention for these children, the KIEZO Working Group was established in 2021. This attention can include support in, for example, the upbringing, communication with the child, preparation for a possible death and mobilizing the family's social network. A position paper was recently published, which is the first step towards acknowledging the gap in our healthcare: forgetting the KIEZO target group.

Major impact on children's well-being

The KIEZO target group includes all children aged 0-23 who live in a family in which one parent has a serious chronic, life-threatening, life-shortening and/or incurable illness. Although it is not possible to say exactly how large the target group is, it is evident that the disease has a major impact on the well-being of the children. Studies show that a serious illness of a parent can have physical, social, emotional and cognitive consequences for the child. Good attention and guidance for children not only has value for today's children, but is also of great significance for the adult people they will become in the near future.

Help via Impulse Mental Care at Home

The Impulse Mental Care Home subsidy offers financial support to families when they want to make use of a chaplain or grief and loss counselor. This subsidy is also available to support children of a seriously ill parent. About thirty percent of the requests for help are now related to the guidance of children who will lose a parent. This concerns hundreds of children per year. This shows the great need for such guidance.

Recommendations to close the gap

The position paper describes the guidance and support needs of the KIEZO target group in more detail and makes some recommendations to reduce the gap. For example, the importance of a systematic view of families and specific training. The position paper was compiled by the KIEZO Working Group, consisting of:

  • Rob Bruntink, journalist, palliative care expert, communication advisor PZNL, co-owner Bureau MORBidee
  • Josien Groot, child psychologist and member of the OLVG Supportive and Palliative Care Team, Amsterdam
  • Tanja van Roosmalen, grief and loss therapist, remedial educationalist LEF Loss Guidance
  • Simone Schoof, nursing specialist AGZ with specialization palliative care and member of the palliative care consultation team LUMC, Leiden
  • Meggi Schuiling-Otten, director and director Knowledge Center for Pediatric Palliative Care
  • Miranda Smit-van Keulen, founder deMoppies.com

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