JRSM > Volume 95, Number 1 > Pp. 57-58

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Impact of chronic illness on the family

Andrew Frank

Arthritis Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow HA1 3UJ, UK

Whilst I welcome very much the importance Mr Rees and his co-workers give to understanding and measuring the strains born by partners of those with chronic illness or disability (November 2001 JRSM, pp. 563-566), I hope that it is not felt that partners are the only groups affected. These effects cross generations, depending on the age of the disabled individual. Thus, in addition to the partner, those involved in sharing the burden include: in the older generation, adult children; in the middle generation, both parents and children; and in children, parents and siblings¹.

There has been a natural concern for children who provide care² even though they themselves may be profoundly affected by their parent's disability^3,4. The effects on parents of children with disabilities or illness are also profound, emotionally and physically⁵ as well as financially⁶.

Regrettably these areas appear to be under-researched and it is to be hoped that Mr Rees and his colleagues will find this a challenging area for further study.

REFERENCES

1. Frank AO. The family and disability. Some reflections on culture. J R Soc Med1989; 82:666 -8[Abstract]

2. Jenkins S, Wingate C. Who cares for young carers? BMJ1994; 308:733 -4[Free Full Text]

3. Coster GM, Sturge JC, Williams KA, Frank AO. Pilot investigation into the needs of children when one parent has multiple sclerosis (Abstr). Clin Rehabil1989; 3:80

4. Sturge C, Frank A, Coster T. Who cares for young carers? [Letter]. BMJ1994; 308:1510 -11[Free Full Text]

5. Maguire GP, Morris-Jones P. Helping parents of children with cancer. In: Frank AO, Maguire GP, eds. Disabling Diseases: Physical, Environmental and Psychosocial Management. Oxford: Heinemann Medical, 1988

6. Hull RG, Prouse PJ, Sherratt C, Brennan P, Townsend J, Frank AO. Capital costs of supporting very severely handicapped (VSH) and appreciably handicapped (AH) people at home. Health Trends1994; 26:80 -5[Medline]

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Send a Quick Comment Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Quick Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Frank, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?