|
|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – COLUMBUS, Ohio – The holidays are over, the decorations are down and the bills are due. It’s a reality that can become dangerous for millions of American kids whose parents may take their frustrations, already heightened by a weak economy, out on them. In the last two years, physicians at the Center for Child and Family Advocacy (CCFA) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital say that child abuse and neglect cases at the hospital are up 40 percent. In 2008 alone, they provided more inpatient consultations for suspected abuse and neglect than any year since the hospital has been compiling data. Luckily, a special program here is helping area families deal with the rampant stress that often accompanies this time of year in healthy ways.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s free home visitation program sends nurses like Shelly Spicer into homes of low-income, first-time mothers who are choosing to be proactive about dealing with their stress. Young mothers enrolled in the program are paired with a nurse no later than their 28th week of pregnancy and continue to meet until the child’s second birthday.
“We see them from the beginning,” Spitzer says. “They’re already usually in a stressful situation so throughout the pregnancy and early in the child’s life we’re hopefully able to help reduce some of that anxiety with our visits.”
The nurses help moms focus on prenatal care and nutrition, and once the baby is born, education and support for caring for their child. The idea is to assist moms to become the best parents they can be by focusing on their child’s needs while stressing the direct correlation between healthy choices and raising her child in a safe environment.
The resulting dialogue and progress made by nurses like Spicer and her clients helps parents decrease their stress and their risk for putting their children in harm’s way. In fact, one study found that programs like this can cut cases of abuse in half.*
Beyond this this program, experts here stress that everyone can help make a difference to combat child abuse or neglect.
“We all see situations that, in the past, we dismissed as ‘none of our business,’” says Yvette McGee Brown, president of the CCFA at Nationwide Children’s. “However sometimes you’re the only person who can help that child and you can prevent something from happening.”
If you’re in public and notice a parent becoming aggressive, experts at the CCFA encourage you not to stare or glare, but instead to compliment the struggling parent with his or her patience. If you see things escalating, don’t be afraid to contact a store manager or police.
If you’re struggling to control your own anger, experts stress the importance of taking several deep breaths, closing your eyes and imagining what your child is about to hear. Putting some space between you and your child can help prevent a potential incident. If you know a neighbor who’s struggling, offer to help by giving the parents a break.
“Offer to watch the children for a few hours, anything that helps that parent have some time to de- stress and breathe a sigh of relief. All of us can do that and it costs us nothing,” says McGee Brown.