by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on May 9, 2012
David DeMaso, MD
National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week is May 6 though 12. In honor of the occasion David R. DeMaso, MD, psychiatrist-in-chief at Boston Children’s Hospital, addresses the work of the Children’s Mental Health Campaign in Massachusetts.
What is the state of children’s mental health in the Commonwealth?
The good news is that we’ve come a long way. Massachusetts is a national leader in children’s mental health. Since 2006, when Boston Children’s and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) released a joint report on children’s mental health, children are now more likely to receive timely care, delivered in the right setting, than six years ago. However, the system continues to be fragmented, which creates barriers to care. We still need to take important steps to expand access to effective, high quality and well-coordinated care for all children with mental health needs.
What is the Children’s Mental Health Campaign? What have been the most significant achievements of the Campaign to date?
Launched by Boston Children’s and the MSPCC, the Campaign also includes the following founding partners –Health Care for All, Health Law Advocates and the Parent Advocacy League. Since 2006 it has grown into a diverse coalition of more than 140 organizations with expertise in mental health, healthcare, law, child welfare, family advocacy and policy—all working together to advocate for systemic change of the children’s health care system.
Through the Campaign’s efforts, the landscape for children’s mental health in the Commonwealth has changed significantly. Three landmark laws have been enacted: the Children’s Mental Health Omnibus law of 2008, the Mental Health Parity reform law of 2008 and the Autism law of 2010.
These laws have improved access to care, spurned early identification of children with mental health needs, highlighted the importance of increasing schools’ capacity to address the mental health needs of students, expanded insurance coverage for children in need of mental healthcare services and reduced by more than 60 percent the number of kids “stuck” in inappropriate care settings. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on March 8, 2012
If your child were being bullied, would you know about it? Most of us would like to believe that if our kids were being targeted at school they’d tell us right away, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. Data shows that many bullying victims fail to report their harassment. This could be for any number of reasons, but in many cases the victim stays silent because he’s scared that telling someone will make the bullying worse, is embarrassed about being picked on or thinks the adults in his life can’t do anything to stop it.
It’s a difficult cycle to break, but it’s not impossible. To help, Children’s Hospital Boston has teamed up with teachers, administrators and students in one Boston school to empower kids to take a stand against bullying. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 1, 2012
By Meaghan O’Keeffe, RN, BSN, CCRN, nurse in Children’s Hospital Boston’s Preoperative Clinic. See more of her writing at Healthy Offspring.
Visiting a hospital can be overwhelming for anyone, but for kids it can be downright scary. The range of fears will vary from child to child depending on their age, development, personality and prior hospital experience. As parents it’s our goal to help calm our children and prepare them for experiences that might be frightening, but when it comes to preparing your little one for a hospital stay that may seem easier said than done.
Fortunately the staff at Children’s Hospital Boston has seen it all and is here to help children (and their parents) know just what to expect if they’re coming to Children’s. Mary O’Malley, NP, MSN, and Certified Child Life Specialist Hayley Sorensen, MS, CCLS, have extensive experience working with children in the hospital’s Preoperative Clinic, and offer these tips for families who may be preparing a child for a hospital stay.
1. Be honest
According Sorensen, most children will be looking for answers to three W questions when they find out they’re going to a hospital for an extended visit. “The concern for children being hospitalized are usually, ‘Who is going to be with me, what will the doctors do and will it hurt?’” she says.
The single most important thing parents can do to help alleviate any fears is to have an open and honest dialogue with their children. Kids are observant and intuitive and they know when information is being kept from them, which can cause anxiety.
By discussing the upcoming hospitalization in age appropriate ways, you can quiet a lot of the fears your child may be worried about. “Children need to be prepared,” O’Malley says. “Nothing in real-life is as scary as their imagination is and they need to be reassured of that.” Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on February 24, 2012
The journal Pediatrics released two studies this week that focused on the mental and physical wellbeing of children who don’t conform to typical gender roles.
The first study, led by Children’s Hospital Boston researcher S. Bryn Austin, ScD, indicates that kids who fail to adapt traditional gender stereotypes as children are at a significantly greater risk for physical, sexual and psychological abuse during childhood. These children are also more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young adulthood.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Health and compiled data from almost 9,000 young adults. Participants were asked to recall their childhood experiences, including their favorite toys and games growing up. The types of charters they related to as children, which roles they adopted during pretend play and their earliest understanding of masculinity and femininity where all reported on as well. Researchers also asked participants to disclose information about any physical, sexual or emotional abuse they experienced at the hands of parents, other adults or older children. Finally, participants were screened for PSTD. Full story »
by Steve Coldwell on January 12, 2012
As an attorney, Kristin Small, Esq., specializes in cases where the legal and health care needs of her clients cross paths. She recently worked with the parents of a 5-year-old child with autism.
The father had lost his job and the mother couldn’t work because of the time she needed to devote to her son’s care. Though the Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed that their son qualified for benefits medically, the family was deemed ineligible because they had “too many resources.” With both parents out of work and no means of income, legal counsel was the last option they thought was available to them.
Their pediatrician referred them to Small, a staff attorney for the Medical Legal Partnership | Boston (MLP) and liaison to Children’s for the newest MLP site in the Children’s Hospital Primary Care Center (CHPCC). Providing care for more than 13,000 children—65 percent of whom are covered by Medicaid—the CHPCC is well suited to host the MLP at CHB. “Our medical and social work staff already spend a lot of time advocating for our patients,” says Joanne Cox, MD, medical director for the CHPCC. “They’re writing letters to utility companies, helping families access food stamps and communicating with landlords about poor housing conditions.” Chronic illnesses such as asthma, cerebral palsy and diabetes are often exacerbated by environmental factors like lack of food, housing, education and employment. A child my be falling behind in school due to chronic illness, or a family may be forced to choose between medicine and food. By teaming with the MLP, the CHPCC can now offer their patients direct access to legal information and support to help them make sure their needs are being met. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 12, 2011
The Boston Sunday Globe recently ran a cover story about a Children’s Hospital Boston family being treated at our Gender Management Services Clinic (GeMS). It was an in-depth and well-written piece about a family raising a transgender teenager and her treatment at Children’s. The GeMS Clinic is the first major program in the United States to focus on gender identity disorder in children and adolescents, a population who are often victims of bullying and harassment and have the highest rate of suicide attempts in the world.
I highly recommend the Boston Globe article, as well as the following companion blog, in which the father of the family discusses why they chose to share their story with the world…
My wife Kelly and I have had a number of defining moments since our twin children came into our lives. Each has been special in it’s own way, but most of these moments have been things that all parents can relate to: birthdays, first days of school and teaching the kids to ride a bike. But our family has also seen our fair share of different experiences; experiences that have been both frightening and extraordinary. Even some things that seemed simple at first went on to have a level of complexity we never expected.
Since sharing our story, we’ve met so many special people that have helped Nicole and changed our family forever. When we met Dr. Norman Spack, at Children’s Gender Management Services Clinic (GeMS) it was the first time we felt hope that Nicole could one day achieve her dreams. During that first visit, he lifted a tremendous amount of fear and worry from our shoulders and the smile on Nicole’s face when she left his office will forever be imprinted in my memory. I am not ashamed to say that I had doubts at first, but in one visit Dr. Spack erased them and set my family on a wonderful journey. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 8, 2011
Being a parent in a sluggish economy is tough. Raising kids is a demanding job on it’s own and adding money stress to the mix often makes things worse. It’s hard, but like it or not, these are the financial realities many parents are facing today.
To help make ends meet, more and more families are becoming dual-income households. Studies show that 80 percent of children have parents who both work full-time in the first year of life.
But that extra paycheck may come at a price. For every minute mom and dad spends at work, they need someone else to watch the children. For millions of American this involves placing their infant child in childcare, which often stirs up feelings of anxiety and guilt in parents. It’s a hard choice, but what effects does being in childcare really have on the child’s development? For decades, these questions have disturbed and even panicked parents. Fortunately there are experts who can help make that decision less stressful.
“Parents looking for clear information on how childcare affects children are given a bewilderingly diverse set of conclusions,” says Kevin Nugent, PhD, founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute at Children’s, a research and training organization dedicated to studying the development of newborns and young children. “But it’s not all bad news.” Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on November 14, 2011
For the past week the nation’s attention has been focused on the child sex abuse scandal engulfing Penn State’s football program. It’s a heartbreaking story that has triggered feelings of anger and horror in millions of people. It also has many parents wondering about the safety of their own children.
Unfortunately, sexual abuse of female and male children is more prevalent than many people realize and many cases go unreported. Children stay silent about their abuse for a number of different developmental, social or psychological factors. In some instances the victim is too young or otherwise unable to tell anyone what has happened, and may have some confusion about what has taken place. Other times the child may be afraid their abuser will hurt them or their family if they tell anyone, or they are embarrassed, ashamed or blame themselves for what happened.
As troubling as it may sound, there are also many victims who never come forward because they are protecting the person who hurt them. It’s not unusual for the abuser to have a bond with the child so strong that the victim is unwilling to identify him or her for fear of getting the perpetrator in trouble. If the abuser is a person of high regard— like a respected authority figure, or popular coach or teacher—the victim may think no one will believe the story, or be angry with them for accusing a respected person. Full story »
