OUR LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES ARE TO DEVELOP CHILD-ORIENTED LITERATURE TO ASSIST CHILDREN IN DEALING WITH EMOTIONALLY DISTURBING EVENTS, SUCH AS HOSPITALIZATION AND DEATH.

OUR LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES ARE TO DEVELOP CHILD-ORIENTED LITERATURE TO ASSIST CHILDREN IN DEALING WITH EMOTIONALLY DISTURBING EVENTS, SUCH AS HOSPITALIZATION AND DEATH. BECAUSE OF THE SEVERE NEED FOR LITERATURE TO ASSIST CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS HAVE END STAGE RENAL DISEASE (ESRD), OUR SPECIFIC AIM FOR PHASE I IS TO PREPARE MATERIALS FOR THESE CHILDREN. THERE ARE OVER 100,000 CHILDREN WITH A PARENT WITH ESRD. CURRENT STUDIES SHOW THAT THESE CHILDREN DEVELOP DEPRESSIVE AND HYPOCHONDRIACAL MMPI PATTERNS, PSEUDOMATURE BEHAVIOR, AND HAVE LATENT AGGRESSIVE FEELINGS TOWARD THE SICK PARENT. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A WORKBOOK, TEST THE WORKBOOK ON LOCAL CHILDREN WITH ESRD PARENTS, MODIFY THE WORKBOOK BASED ON THE RESPONSES FROM THE CHILDREN, AND PUBLISH IT DURING PHASE I. THE WORKBOOK WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF DIALYSIS CENTERS AND PROFESSIONALS INCLUDING: A CHILD PSYCHIATRIST, SOCIAL WORKER, RENAL NURSE, MEDICAL WRITERS, AND AN ILLUSTRATOR. THE WORKBOOK WILL BE ORIENTED TOWARD ONE OF THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF LIFE. AT THE CONCLUSION OF PHASE I, WE WILL IDENTIFY OTHER MEDICALLY RELATED AREAS THAT CAN BENEFIT FROM SIMILAR CHILD-ORIENTED LITERATURE AND WE WILL PROPOSE TO DEVELOP MATERIALS FOR THESE AREAS DURING PHASE II. ALSO IN PHASE II, WE WILL PREPARE WORKBOOKS ON ESRD FOR THE OTHER DEVELOPMENT STAGES.