Free Health Dissertations - We Try To Answer Questions On Whether There Are Heightened Risks In Foster
We try to answer questions on whether there are heightened risks in foster care or neglected children of being affected by infectious diseases, if so why and what are the factors involved in making such children vulnerable to physical illnesses.
The need to include foster parents in children’s care within the hospital system has been emphasized. Social welfare officials have stressed the need for improved ways to incorporate parents and caregivers to take care of their children’s needs and to help them overcome problems related to diseases (Yvonne et al, 2005). Providing proper nutrition to children is one of the key ways in which diseases can be prevented. Robertson (2005) write that child welfare social workers actually act as catalysts to improve the care and health or social conditions of most children. However parents and caregivers can help in the assessment and intervention providing continuous care that may not be available in care homes. Yet this task is challenging and several guidelines and Department of Health recommendations for care of deprived children have to be followed by social welfare workers for child care.
However, even within care practices, there may be differences in the care provided to children in orphanages and foster care homes. Many American parents have adopted children from Guatemala and Miller et al (2005) assessed the health, growth and developmental status of Guatemalan adopted children who arrived in America around the age of 16-19 months. Among 103 children studied, 25 resided in orphanages, 56 in foster care and 22 were in mixed care settings. Results indicated that there were some growth delays in all children, and infectious diseases included intestinal parasites (8%) and latent tuberculosis infection (7%). Children placed in foster care have been found to have better cognitive skills and lower risks of infection than children in orphanages who were found to have higher risks of being affected by infectious diseases suggesting that foster care is a better option for overall development of neglected children.
Considering the topic under consideration, we will take a brief look at the common infectious diseases that children are affected with and the relation between ‘looked after’ children and the prevalence of infections. Miller writes that nearly 220,000 children have been adopted into America from many developing countries since 1986. Most of these children live in orphanages before adoption and in these orphanages they suffer from malnutrition, neglect, environmental deprivation and exposure to several infectious diseases. Since these children are especially vulnerable to disease, international adoptees undergo screening evaluation for infectious diseases. According to Miller, Infectious conditions of special concern include hepatitis B and C, human immuno-deficiency virus infection, syphilis, tuberculosis, and presence of intestinal parasites.
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