Psychosocial Challenges of Invasive Meningococcal Disease for Children and their Families

ABSTRACT

Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) is an uncommon but potentially severe illness that disproportionally affects babies, children, and adolescents and can cause significant disability. Such outcomes have devastating impact on families and caregivers. This study aimed to identify the current level of social work intervention in cases of IMD, identify how psychosocial needs are met during an IMD admission; and identify the opportunities for social workers to support and meet the needs of patients, families, and carers during an IMD admission and beyond. A mixed methods approach was employed including: a medical record review of IMD cases; semistructured interviews with families who had experienced a child or young person with an IMD diagnosis; and a structured interview with a key informant to explore the potential social work role. The results from this small study indicate that the psychosocial needs of family members may not be being adequately met, highlighting an opportunity for social workers to provide holistic assessment and support including crisis intervention, advocacy, and anticipatory guidance to those experiencing IMD and their families.

IMPLICATIONS

• Invasive meningococcal disease can have devastating physical outcomes for the infected individual and those around them may endure psychosocial traumas with this sudden, severe illness.

• Social workers can provide support at critical times during the medical emergency to reduce distress and improve communication to better support individuals and their families in the medical setting.

• Continuing social work support may reduce long-term distress.

侵入性脑炎是一种虽少见但可能很严重的疾病，对婴幼儿少年儿童危害尤甚，可以造成明显的残疾。这样的结果对于家人和抚养人来说是摧毁性的。本文旨在确定目前社工对侵入性脑炎干预到了何种程度；脑炎患者住院期间其心理需求是如何解决的；脑炎患者住院间和出院后社会工作者都有哪些机会帮助患者及其家人或抚养人。作者使用的混合研究方法包括：对脑炎病例医案的梳理；对脑炎患儿家人的半固定访谈；对关键性信息提供者的固定访谈（以探讨社会工作的潜在角色）。根据这项小型研究，患儿家属的心理需求似未得到充分的满足，社会工作者可以提供整体的评估和支持，包括对脑炎患儿及家人的危机干预、鼓励、以及预案性指导。

KEYWORDS:

• Social Work Intervention
• Invasive Meningococcal Disease
• Psychosocial Issues
• Support

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.