PolicyLab

For parents of children with complex chronic conditions, the challenges of coordinating and providing care for their children are often at odds with maintaining employment, forcing families to make difficult choices around job stability. Such choices may cause stress and poor physical and mental health for parents, however very little is known about parents’ attitudes and beliefs surrounding employment in the context of a child’s prolonged severe illness. PolicyLab Strategist and Program Manager Leigh Wilson, MSW, CSW, and researchers Katherine Kellom and Doug Strane, MPH, received an award from the CHOP Clinical Futures to conduct a pilot study that will examine the factors considered most important to families as they make complex decisions about employment when caring for a child with complex medical needs. They will also look at how families interact with the benefits granted by the Family Medical Leave Act.