Medical students act as Big Brothers/Big Sisters to support human immunodeficiency virus-infected children's psychosocial needs.

Autor: Tess J; Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Ill., USA., Baier C, Eckenfels EJ, Yogev R
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine [Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med] 1997 Feb; Vol. 151 (2), pp. 189-92.
DOI: 10.1001/archpedi.1997.02170390079014
Abstrakt: Objective: To address the special psychosocial and emotional needs and concerns of human immunodeficiency virus-infected children through a medical student-based Big Brother/Big Sister program.
Design: A telephone survey of 9 medical students who participated in the program in the last 4 years was undertaken to assess their experiences and feelings about the program.
Results: The experiences resulting from participation in the program were unanimously positive. The medical students stated that in no other medical setting were they able to develop a better understanding of the feelings and emotions of living with a terminal illness. The volunteers also believed that the program increased the benefits for the child and the medical student.
Conclusions: Initial evaluation of the Big Brother/Big Sister program for human immunodeficiency virus-infected children suggests that it helped establish a strong, supportive relationship between the affected child and the medical student. A modified program in other medical schools may help to serve many other communities affected by the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic.
Databáze: MEDLINE