Chronic Illness

Chronic Illness

Introduction

This study assessed the social effects of a therapeutic recreation summer camp for adolescents with chronic illness. Over two million adolescents in the United States have some form of a chronic illness and frequently have decreased levels of social self-efficacy and social performance. The population that is used as participants belongs to the age from 15-22 years which will include both children and adolescents. They live in the; Houston, Texas: Harris County. A summer camp will be setup to provide with therapeutic recreational activities and learning for their disease.

Discussion

Chronic Illness

Chronic illness is a term given to a group of health conditions that persist for an extended duration of time, typically at least 3 months and oftentimes for the remainder of the individual's life. These conditions affect the individual's daily life and require either home health care or frequent hospital visits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2005, 7 out of 10 American deaths are attributed to chronic illnesses. Furthermore, 133 million Americans, almost one out of every two adults, have had at least one form of a chronic illness in 2005. When looking specifically at adolescents with chronic illness the numbers greatly vary depending on how past researchers have defined chronic illness. By some accounts as many as 6-10% of American adolescents have some form of a chronic illness (Boice, 1998; Neinstein, 2001). Even by conservative estimates, this indicates that at least two million adolescents in the United States of America have some form of a chronic illness.

A diagnosis of a chronic illness necessitates drastic lifestyle changes, which may include modifying and adapting to new lifestyles as well as learning new behaviors to care for the illness. Individuals have to learn how to adjust socially and psychologically to living with the illness. They are not only exposed to traditional daily stressors, but also to illness-related stress (Nelms, 1989), along with the challenges that normal teenagers undergo, while learning how to manage their illness (Magrab, 1985). These changes can affect nearly every aspect of their lives. It changes their perceptions of who they are and what they can do (Bluebond-Langner et al., 1990).

Chronic illness in Harris County of Houston, Texas

Like the rest of the country, chronic illness is becoming the leading reason behind deaths in Harris County of Houston, Texas. There are many chronic diseases that are causing deaths in the county among which the top are shown in table: 1 along with other chronic illness such as diabetes. It is said that health of a community depends upon the genetics; health risks behaviors and the environment in which people are living.

Diabetes is a chronic condition which is marked by the high blood sugar level may lead to the other major health problems such as blindness, heart diseases and kidney failure. The mortality rate, among different ethnic and racial groups, the mortality rate has increased due to the diabetes both in whites and Hispanics during the years of 2007 and ...