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Medical Malpractice: Helping Your Child Cope

If your child has lost a loved one or had his life significantly altered by a medical malpractice case, it can be difficult to know how to help him grieve. Not only do you have your own grief, but you may experience a level of anger and frustration. Note that if you are feeling those emotions, it is possible that your child is too, and he will need to work through them in order to move on. You can help your child through this by working through it yourself, and by seeking support from another community.

 

While money cannot make up for the loss, a settlement can help ease the financial burden that is now present due to a lost loved one. Many malpractice cases end this way. Not all malpractice cases involve wrongful death, however. For one Los Angeles malpractice case, a child was no longer able to walk. The courts ruled for a settlement that would recompense not only the emotional trauma the child faced, but would also go towards the extra expenses that the family was now faced with due to the child’s disability.

 

While you can seek justice in court, your child will primarily need your love and support to come out of this time of grieving. Support groups can help a suffering family who does not know how to grieve or how to help each other in their grief. If you and your family are in need of extra support during the aftermath of an instance of medical malpractice, finding help in a support group, counseling, or a church could be one of the things that will get you through.

 

Filed Under: Child, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Tips for Helping Your Child Grieve

As a parent, one of the most difficult things you may have to face is how to help your child grieve. Whether it is from the death of a beloved pet, a friend or a family member, children may not be emotionally or mentally equipped to properly grieve. As an adult you know how truly painful that anguish is that your child is feeling. Here are a few tips that can help you assist your child in dealing with this pain.

  • Listen and be prepared to take the appropriate time to answer any and all questions. Through listening, you can help your child comprehend the death better.
  • Talk honestly to your child about death. Don’t make up stories in hopes of alleviating his or her pain. The truth will help your child determine what is real and what is not true. Tips for talking about death and grieving can be found at many online sites as well.
  • Help your child express their deep feelings about the death. In addition, you need to take these feelings seriously to help them cope.
  • Your entire family may be grieving as well, so it is important to make sure that your child is included in the process. Don’t send them away to a friend’s house or to a babysitter, as this will not allow them to properly grieve with other family members. It may also cause feelings of isolation.
  • Finally, give your child plenty of love and affection so they will feel secure when dealing with his or her grief.
Filed Under: Child, Grieving, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Support Groups And Their Role In Society

There are many people who are grieving at the thought of their loved ones dying from a terminal disease. These people need to have some kind of support so that they are able to overcome their grief and instead are able to help their loved one to be able to cope with the disease. The common diseases that are terminal in nature include those like cancer in the advanced stage, muscular dystrophy. There are also many other diseases that can cause a lot of permanent damage in children. Diseases that can cause damage to the brain of the child can lead to permanent deformities and mental retardation. This too can cause grief in parents and support groups are very important to help the parents to overcome their grief.

Though the parents need a lot of support, the kids who are suffering from the disease will also need a lot of support. This will help them to be able to overcome their disease to an extent, at least mentally. The child who suffers from the disease physically will not be able to overcome very easily because of the pain and the discomfort caused by the disease. In spite of these problems, the child will be able to at least cope with the disease to an extent, when the help of the support groups is obtained.

The role of the support groups in the society is very important. These support groups should be present in every city so that the resources that are used in one of the groups can be shared with the people who are suffering in another city. The government and also the nongovernmental organizations should try to set up various support groups.

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Take Care of Yourself as You Take Care of a Grieving Teen

If you are a parent of a teenager and you lose someone close to you, it is important that you take care of yourself as much as you take care of a grieving teen.  Teenagers are usually an emotional mine field anyway, but if they are suddenly faced with the death of someone close to them, all of those emotions can become unmanageable for you and the teenager.

It is important to understand that a grieving teen will have different feeling than you do.  They are not emotionally developed, and in some cases, their brains may not even be neurologically developed to the point where they can really comprehend and process death.  This kind of significant death is probably the first they’ve experienced.  It will seem sudden to them, whether the death was expected or not.

The grieving teen may isolate himself, act out, become very clingy or participate in dangerous behaviors.  You’ll have your hands full as you try to help the kid cope with the loss.  Even so, make sure you are taking care of yourself, too.  You’ve suffered just as great a loss as your teenager.  Make sure you acknowledge that and get support for yourself, too.

You don’t have to go through the bereavement process alone.  Neither does your child.  There are many teen support groups that can help support a teenager among other teenagers.  The counselors will be equipped to address this age group.  There are also counselors who specialize in grief and loss and those who only see teenagers.  Accept the help.

As for yourself, there are plenty of support groups to help you along, too.  Give yourself and your child a break from each other and attend your separate groups and counseling sessions.  Take free time for yourself, and encourage your child to spend time with friends and other family members.  Don’t be afraid to ask family to help you help a grieving teen.

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Why Are Support Groups Needed

There are many diseases that are seen in kids. Even adults who see their kids suffering are not able to take the pain of their kids. Right from the time of the diagnosis of a disease in a child, the parents are put into a cauldron where their lives change for the worse. Their whole world seems to disintegrate and they do not know what to do. In this situation, the parents are seen to suffer a lot. So, it is very important that the kids are able to get appropriate treatment. At the same time, the kids who suffer from the disease need all the support they can get.

The parents who take care of a sick child also need a lot of support. This is all provided by the support groups. There are some support groups that are specifically present for people who grieve the diagnosis of a terminal disease. There are other support groups that are set up for the kids who are suffering from the disease. As there are many support groups, the person who is affected by a disease or the care giver of a person affected by a disease will be able to find solace there. Counseling will also help such people to be able to overcome their grief easily and so many of the support groups have a lot of counselors there.

The support groups will also help the people who are suffering to be able to cope with the disease. Since many of the support groups will have people who have overcome the disease or people who have come to be at peace with their disease, these groups are very helpful for those who are unable to come to terms with the disease that they are suffering from. These are the main reasons for the need for support groups to overcome diseases and associated grief.

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Finding a Support Group

If you are a parent, you are likely facing some sort of issue with your children that you could use extra advice and support with. Whatever issue you are facing, more than likely you are able to find a support group to help you through the trying times. There are support groups available for almost every topic or issue you can imagine.

One way to find a support group is by searching on the internet. Check around on message boards related to whatever issue you are facing and you may find a great way to connect with people. Some of the support groups are only online, while others will meet in person.

You may like meeting with a real group in person because you can make friends that will be with you throughout your life this way. There may also be playgroup options for your children if you have a support group that meets in person.

However, groups that meet on the internet have their benefits too. They are preferable for many because they have a support system available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also, when you look on the internet, you have more opportunities to socialize with people facing your specific problem than being locked into finding someone locally.

If you can’t find a support group out there that meets your needs, you may consider creating one yourself. This can be a great way to network and meet others who are going through what you are. You may be able to reach out and help other parents who don’t even realize that there are others who are in the same position they are.

Support groups are a great thing for everyone involved. If you have not found what you are looking for yet, take the time to check around soon. Your children will benefit greatly by you making connections with other parents of children like themselves.

Filed Under: Adaptation, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

When Kids Lose a Classmate

One of the most traumatic things that can happen to a kids is the death of a classmate.  Depending on the age group, the type of support will vary when kids lose a classmate.  Elementary age children don’t really have a well developed concept of death.  Teenagers typically do, but they may have never experienced a death, much less one that affects a classmate.

With all children, make sure there is an open, safe place for them to talk and ask questions.  With smaller kids, the questions will be very literal.  They may even want the gory details.  Their minds are very visual and concrete, so they’ll seek out information that makes sense at their stage of development.  With this age group, keep answers brief and simple.  They simply cannot process more.

Teenagers will need a different type of support.  High schools will often employ extra counselors during a time of traumatic death.  Teenagers may feel like they need to be with their classmates all of the time.  They will have more spiritual questions.  They may talk about nothing but the dead person.  Depending on how the child died, the school may want to set up some specific programming to address the subject.  Many teenagers die in alcohol related accidents, drug overdoses and suicide.  Each of these deaths carries a different stigma that has to be addressed.

Mostly, the children need to know that the death is not their fault, it is not a type of punishment, and whatever they are feeling is natural.  Teachers shouldn’t be afraid to let the kids see their grief.  Kids need to know that their leaders feel sorrow and therefore truly understand the grief they are feeling.  For a day or so, schools may want to offer a time and space for a grief support group where older kids can process the death with each other in a healthy environment.

Filed Under: Age Groups, Child Tagged With: ,

Don’t Ignore Grieving Teens

When there is a significant death in the family it is important that you don’t ignore grieving teens.  This age group may not display signs of stress or sadness the way a younger child will. Teens are notoriously secretive, so parents and significant adults in the child’s life need make sure effort is made to communicate with older adolescents more than usual.

To take preventative measure to guarantee a teenager’s grief is supported, look for teen support groups in your area.  A teen may feel more comfortable talking with peers than family members.  If none are available, make sure the child is keeping contact with close friends.  Give kids credit for being able to support one another.  A grieving teen may benefit from getting away from the family grief and expressing emotions within his or her own age group.

Encourage your teenager to journal.  Writing down is are a great way to work through tough emotions.  At a later date, reviewing those early feelings may help the young person  to identify problematic trends in their  bereavement process.  If your child has an artistic flare, encourage them to create artwork that speaks to their grief.  Music is also a powerful tool when dealing with tough emotions.

In some cases, a grieving teen will benefit from professional counseling.  If you are aware of any existing issues, such as drug  use, it might be a good idea to start counseling anyway as a precautionary measure.  If religion is important, make sure clergy is involved.  Just make sure that the religious message in no way puts guilt or unreasonable feelings on the grieving teen.  It is well understood in the professional world of grief support that messages like, “It’s God’s will” are the wrong thing to say.  If the religious message in any way sounds unfair, it can alienate the teen from his or her spirituality when it’s needed most.

Filed Under: Child, Grieving Tagged With: ,

Make a Grief Drum in Children Support Groups

Whether a child is grieving or not, he’s going to act out or get rambunctious at times.  Children support groups should leave room for some expressive outbursts while teaching kids to explore how all five senses can be a part of the grieving process.  A fun way to do this is to make a grief drum in children support groups.

You’ll need to find a carpenter volunteer to make the drum frames, but once that’s done, these expressive toys are a great tool for working with different levels of emotion.  A carpenter should cut one by three boards in one foot strips.  Then make a simple box frame out of the strips.  The kids will do the rest.

First ask the children to gather objects that represent their feelings towards the person who died.  Craft stores have lots of glitters, confetti, tiny figures, and other small bright objects that can go inside the drum.  The children may want to paint their drum frames, too.  They can even write messages on the frame.

Now take clear packing tape and run strips tightly across one side of the frame, like a drum head.  The children can now place their items in the frame.  Ask them to talk about what they are creating and why.  The creative expression in the drum making should help with grief and understanding about death and loss.  Once the drums are filled, take the clear tape and tightly wrap it around the drum frame so that it is tight on both sides.

You can now take one foot, small dow rods and put a two or three inch Styrofoam ball on one end.  Wrap it with bright material and tape.  The drum is complete and ready to go!  It’s time to assign different feelings to different rhythms and beats.  Let the children choose them, demonstrate them and explain them.  In fact, arrange all the beats into a single song.

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