Parenting Children With Special Health Needs

November 9, 2013 Time:   8:15 am – 9:30 am   Bonham C

Post-divorce Coparenting of Children With Chronic Illness

Presented by: Luke Russell, Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, Debra Gayer

The CDC (2010) estimates that between 2.5% and 3% of all single-parent and stepfamily households include a child with at least one chronic illness.  Because family variables are related to children’s health outcomes and adherence to treatment plans, it’s important to better understand how post-divorce coparenting dyads arrange and organize their relationships (Chesla, 2010).  A grounded theory study was conducted with divorced parents of children with chronic illnesses.  Preliminary results suggest that parents who are more satisfied with their coparenting engage in minimizing accusations of incompetency, developing a “patch-it” mentality, and seeking relationships with medical providers as trusted consultants.