Helping your Teenager cope with the Hospital 

 

Teen 13-18 years

 

Prepare your teenager for the hospital a couple weeks to a month ahead of time. This will give your teenager time to prepare, talk to family and friends and gather information.

For teenagers, independence is very important, so encourage your teenager to ask questions of doctors and nurses and to be as involved with self care as is appropriate. Give as much information as you think your teen can handle and reinforce positive coping mechanisms. Respect your teenagers need for privacy, and also help him/her keep in contact with school and friends. Encourage your teenager to make phone calls to friends, Skype and/or email. They can even hang pictures of their friends on their hospital room walls and have friends visit.

 

Developmental milestones:

 

• Socialization is important

• Rapidly changing body image

• Need for privacy

• Increasing independence and responsibility

• Struggle to develop self identity

• Use of deductive reasoning and abstract thought

 

Hospital Stressors:

 

• Lack of trust

• Loss of independence and control

• Threat of change in body image

• Restriction of physical activities

• Loss of peer acceptance and/ or fear of rejection

• Threat to bodily competence

• Threat to future

• Fear of death

• Isolation

• Limited caregiver involvement

 

Coping behaviors:

 

• Defense mechanisms

• intellectualization (finding out everything there is to know about why they are in the hospital)

• Conformity (giving in, often seen as withdrawal)

• Uncooperative behavior

 

How to help Teenagers cope with hospitalization:

 

• Respect and maintain privacy

• Involve patient in self care

• Allow peers to visit

• Communicate honestly

• Discuss potential psychological and physical changes

• Address potential long term issues

• Provide opportunity for open discussion and guidence

• Visual Board

• Alliance Project

• Keep up with school work

• Interdisciplinary care conference

 

Pain management and distraction techniques:

 

• Conversation (humor)

• Music

• Encouraging statements

• Deep breathing/ visualization

• Favorite toy/ play

• Watching videos

• Guided imagery

• IPAD