Participating in extracurricular activities is hugely beneficial for children’s wellbeing and has been found to lower their risk of having depression and anxiety.
CoachArt is a nonprofit organization that helps chronically ill children ages 5 to 18 explore hobbies and skills through free classes, including painting, cooking, guitar lessons and martial arts.
Adults with disabilities no longer qualify for the same care, services and programs that they did as children. Instead, youth who turn 18 and their families must tackle a long checklist of tasks.
Yet with knowledge of the right resources and time to plan, this transition can be more manageable.
Research shows children with chronic illnesses are at least twice as likely as healthy children to develop a mental health disorder. They’re at higher risk for neglect and abuse. Their caregivers and siblings are also at increased risk for mental distress.
Yet there are few mental health treatment programs that cater to the needs of these children and their families. The MEND program at Loma Linda University is an exception.
The upward trend in childhood chronic disease in California is threatening the health of the next generation, and racial disparities in those diseases are stark evidence of the deep impact that racism has on health.
A groundbreaking Senate bill could help the state begin to change course by prioritizing and investing in prevention of childhood chronic illnesses and creating actionable steps for implementation.
In the class I teach on chronic illness for UC Davis medical students, I am trying to get my students to see illness in a new way. I want them to be more pro-active rather than simply re-active, to anticipate their patients’ diseases and conditions, and to help their patients stay healthy, rather than treating them only when they are sick. I believe this is not only the right thing to do. It may also be the only way our family medicine physicians will be able to cope with the rising pressures coming with an aging population and an expanded workload brought about by the recently passed federal health reform, which will broaden access to health care for millions who have not had it.