This week analyze problems experienced by parents with children who have long-term illnesses or disabilities. Consider the following situations and the impact of each on parent-child socio-emotional relationships and parenting:

The hospital is a far distance from where the family lives, and the parent/parents is/are unable to stay nearby to visit the child daily/weekly.
Finances (and familial relations such as marriage or co-custody) are strained by the cost of treatment and/or there are other children in the home needing care.
Ill children often feel abandoned and act-out, often rejecting the parent(s), who, in turn, may feel guilty and fail to discipline the children properly.