The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of parental personality, coping, and the child's quality of life on the well‐being of parents of children treated for cancer. The study included 99 ...parents (63 mothers and 36 fathers), 41 parents during child's intensive treatment, 23 parents whose child completed intensive treatment, and 25 parents of children who completed treatment at least five years ago. The results of multivariate study have confirmed the predictive role of parental personality (especially Neuroticism); emotion‐focused coping styles, and the child's quality of life (especially physical functioning) on parental well‐being. About 60% of the variance in parental well‐being can be attributed to the predictors. Assessing parental personality functioning and coping styles can help us identify those parents who are less emotionally stable, more prone to emotionally focused coping styles, and most likely to experience poorer well‐being. Improved assessment may contribute to the development of further psychological interventions.
V Sloveniji v povprečju letno zboli okoli 20 otrok in mladostnikov s tumorji osrednjega živčnega sistema (tumorji OŽS), kar predstavlja približno 20 % vseh bolnikov, zdravljenih na Kliničnem oddelku ...za otroško hematologijo in onkologijo Pediatrične klinike (KOOHO). Otroci s tumorji OŽS potrebujejo celostno interdisciplinarno obravnavo, del katere je tudi ustrezna kliničnopsihološka diagnostika in celostna nevrokognitivna rehabilitacija, ki je zaradi zelo pogostih kognitivnih in psihosocialnih posledic bolezni ter zdravljenja, bistvenega pomena. Izvaja jo klinični psiholog, ki je član stalnega tima KOOHO. Kliničnopsihološko in nevropsihološko spremljanje otroka se prične že med samim zdravljenjem, po zaključenem zdravljenju in nato sledi redno spremljanje na 2 – 3 leta oziroma ob opozorilu staršev ali lečečega pediatra onkologa na pomembne spremembe v funkcioniranju otroka. Ocenjujemo splošno inteligentnost, šolske dosežke, izvršilne funkcije, pozornost in koncentracijo, spomin in učenje, nevro-senzorično zaznavo, vidno-prostorske in vidno-gibalne sposobnosti, zaznavno procesiranje, hitrost procesiranja, govor, prilagoditvene spretnosti, čustvovanje, vedenje in kakovost življenja. S prepoznavo vrste in resnosti dolgoročnih posledic bolezni in zdravljenja, lahko otroku ali mladostniku nudimo individualna priporočila za ukrepe in prilagoditve ter ustrezno zgodnjonevrorehabilitacijo, ki ima pomembno vlogo pri razvoju neodvisnosti in avtonomnosti v odrasli dobi.
Kakovostna celostna obravnava otrok s tumorji OŽS vpliva na preživetje bolnikov, zmanjšuje pozne posledice zdravljenja in omogoča otrokom in kasneje odraslim čim boljšo kakovost življenja na področju zdravja, izobraževanja, zaposlitve, partnerskih in družinskih odnosov. Pri otrocih in mladostnikih z neozdravljivim možganskim tumorjem pa je pomembna zgodnja vključitev v interdisciplinarno paliativno oskrbo, z namenom vzdrževanja optimalne kakovosti življenja bolnika in svojcev v dani situaciji. Gre zaaktivno, celostno oskrbo bolnikov ter pomoč njihovim bližnjim tako v času bolezni kot tudi v procesu žalovanja.
Medical procedures are often associated with a high degree of distress in children. Negative experience related to recurrent painful medical procedures in the childhood may have long-term negative ...psychological effects. Therefore, besides pharmacological interventions, different cognitive-behavioural techniques are very helpful in reducing child distress and pain perception. However, there is no standard method equally suitable for all children. The most appropriate intervention should be carefully chosen for each individual child, taking into consideration the characteristics of the medical procedure, knowledge of factors affecting pain perception and the child’s personality. Scientific research in which the effect of various psychological approaches to preparing children for (painful) medical procedures was studied shows that cognitive-behavioural interventions are the most effective in reducing pain and distress in children, and should therefore be used in clinical practice.