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17 - Family Support Services at Ronald McDonald House Promotes Healing of Seriously Ill Children

from Part III - Community Psychology in Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

By
Susan Regas ,
Martha Hernández ,
John Bakaly  and
Ronda Doonan
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Long Island University, New York
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Summary

Given the progress of outpatient care, children who are hospitalized are usually very sick, and unfortunately the best professional to deal with their condition is often not in their local community. Families frequently face emotional, management, and financial challenges in their efforts to be near their sick child. Ronald McDonald House (RMH) is a place for families to call home and live close by their hospitalized child at little to no cost. This chapter describes the Family Support Services (FSS) program that offers comprehensive psychosocial support to families and staff staying at RMH. As a result of FSS, RMH families felt support and believed it helped them to improve their family and relationship functioning. FSS also facilitated family members' more active participation in their sick child’s care and, according to caregivers, improved their child’s recovery.

Keywords

Ronald McDonald Housepediatric illnessmedical traumapsychosocial support
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology
Interdisciplinary and Contextual Perspectives
 , pp. 344 - 366
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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