Due to advances in medical treatments, students with terminal illnesses are more likely to attend public schools, increasing the possibility that they may die on school property. However, educational health plans often fail to consider end-of-life care decisions. In the absence of federal or state statutes, school boards are left to navigate the…

A review of studies on death awareness among children who are healthy, chronically ill, and terminally ill reveals that children with life-threatening diseases demonstrate increased understanding of death. In contrast, healthy and chronically ill children appear to require certain age, cognitive development level, or intelligence thresholds to…

Discusses problems experienced by families who have child who is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive or who has Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), noting that child with HIV/AIDS in family usually means at least one parent also has HIV/AIDS. Urges professionals to think of family, rather than individual, and to plan services for…

This paper reviews research literature pertaining to the pain and anxiety associated with pediatric cancer and the use of hypnosis as an adjunct treatment. It is noted that pain and anxiety are most often associated with the procedural treatment of cancer, and that the literature suggests that both pain and anxiety are multi-faceted constructs.…

Examined coping and family adaptation in siblings (n=32) of cancer patients, their ill brothers and sisters (n=19), and control group of nonclinical children (n=10) with healthy siblings. Gender and age of sibling, birth order, and number of siblings were examined. Found better adaptation in larger families and decreased family involvement among…

This paper notes that therapists often feel unqualified to deal with special populations of children because of a lack of understanding of the universalness of play therapy. Suggestions are offered for beginning play therapists who may work with a number of special populations of children. It is recommended that the social learning approach to…

This document considers the problems faced by the children and adolescents who were affected by the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. It discusses problems with psycho-physical, social, and spiritual development. It is noted that the Chernobyl children do not form a homogeneous population, but can be divided into…