Abstract

This book discusses many of the day-to-day needs of children who require long-term respiratory support. This includes their physical requirements, but also their emotional, social and educational needs, and the needs of their families. The medical and technical aspects of these children s care can seem overwhelming. However, arguably the more complex and challenging parts of their management concern things that are not directly related to their physical care, such as facilitating their social needs and education. This book aims to discuss all the aspects of care that such children and their families may need, and also to place these in the context of seeing the child as a whole person and as a part of society. To achieve this, six case studies of children who need long-term respiratory support are used throughout the book.