Child protection for children and adolescents with chronic diseases

The child welfare in children and adolescents with chronic diseases has a higher and faster risk for endangerment than in unimpaired children because of their increased needs and dependency on medical and personal care. Due to the fact that the danger is possibly not immediately obvious to lay persons or also due to a lack of specialist knowledge how the danger can be avoided, for this patient group a particularly intensive interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation between the healthcare and social systems is necessary. In order to avoid an additional stigmatization of the children and adolescents, a joint risk estimation is necessary on the question that must always be borne in mind, of whether the chronic disease is the cause or only the trigger of familial problems or just a coincidence in an already stressful family situation. The institutions must be willing to jointly undertake interdisciplinary casework, intensive discussions and cooperation between the sectors and also possibly be prepared to rethink the normal ways and to find creative solutions for a special group of patients