Comprehensive Medical Care for Handicapped Children

Abstract

In recognition of the need for better understanding of problems of comprehensive medical care for handicapped children, a systematic investigation has been conducted in the pediatric out-patient department of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in the study of children suffering from a number of handicapping conditions, specifically rheumatic fever, congenital heart defects, convulsive disorders, and bronchial asthma. The investigation was designed (a) to explore the various problems, both physical and emotional, experienced by these children, and (b) to evaluate the effectiveness of their medical care from an over-all standpoint. In the course of an analysis of the results of this investigation, we became interested in the fundamental importance of anxiety on the part of the mother as it related significantly to her child's illness, as it was reflected in her handling of the illness, and as it influenced her relationships with her physician, her