Children with Complex Chronic Conditions
Center researchers are studying ways to engage families as partners in health-care delivery for children with complex chronic conditions such as cerebral palsy, diabetes, and muscular dystrophy.
Children with complex chronic conditions (for example, cerebral palsy, diabetes, or muscular dystrophy) represent less than 1% of children but consume 10% to 15% of child-related health-care resources. Researchers at the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development are developing methods for consistently identifying these children and measuring outcomes of care.
Researchers and physicians are gaining a greater understanding of the challenges that families of children with complex chronic conditions face in the health-care system. Our researchers are:
- Working on ways to define and identify children with complex chronic conditions consistently within health-care delivery systems
- Conducting research on the impact of mental health conditions on these children and their families
- Developing methods for improving care and measuring outcomes of care, both in the hospital and in the office
- Seeking ways of engaging families in a meaningful way as partners in delivering health care
- Studying ways of transitioning children with complex chronic conditions from child-oriented health-care systems to adult care