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| Eloah Rocha – Promoting Child Well-Being |
The hospitalization of a child affects not only himself or herself and parents but siblings as well. Siblings of hospitalized children are likely to feel worried or scared, both on behalf of the sick sibling and in regard to their own and the family's well-being. Very young children may experience anxiety if the hospitalization leads to separation from parents or disruption in routine, while older children might fear catching the illness or worry that the sibling will die.
Well children can also feel jealousy and resentment when it appears that the ill child is receiving all of the parents' attention. It is important for the parents to spend time with the well child or children and to take the time to explain the sibling's illness in age-appropriate terms. Parents can also help well children to feel involved by taking them on visits to the hospital, and by preparing the children for what they might see and hear on the visit.
It is likewise important for parents to understand that the well child may feel angry at the sibling for becoming ill. Some children might also be angry at their parents, whom they perceive as having the ability to prevent harm from coming to the sibling. Younger children can even feel anger directed toward themselves, as the magical thinking of early childhood can convince them that they could have done something to prevent the illness.
