Hassan Njifon Nsangou1* and Régine Scelles2
1Departement de Philosophie-Psychologie-Sociologie, Université de Dschang, Cameroon
2Laboratoire CLIPSYD, Université Paris Nanterre, France
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*Corresponding Author: Hassan Njifon Nsangou, Departement de Philosophie-Psychologie-Sociologie, Université de Dschang, Cameroun. E-mail: hassannji75@yahoo.fr
Received: January 07, 2020; Published: January 27, 2020
Background: Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disease in the world. It manifests in children mainly through localized or generalized pain attacks on the body, chronic anemia and higher susceptibility to infections. Sickle cell crises are most often chronic, unpredictable and can lead to multiple hospitalizations. Because of its representation as a death sentence of the affected child or as a manifestation of the transgression of an ancestral norm by the family, sickle cell disease is a traumatism and a taboo in sub-Saharan African families where it is a forbidden subject between children and adults or even between children.
Objectives: This review provides a theme-by-theme review of international publications on the implications for family dynamics of the presence of a child with sickle cell disease.
Methods: Access to the publications was achieved through the exploration of 5 databases with the entries "Sickle Cell Disease, family" and "Drépanocytose, famille" being used for the search.
Results: We identified 25 research projects in Africa, Europe and America, published in English or French between 1988 and 2019, which consisted of general articles on the subject and the experience of practitioners working in hospitals with children suffering from sickle cell disease and their families. These researches emphasize the psychological suffering of the sick child as well as of his parents, siblings and the couple of his parents.
Conclusion: Professionals have to take into account the experience of family members through a psychosocial support mechanism adapted to the needs of the family group and each of its members without simply focusing on the child-mother relationship. This can make the family a resource for the sick child, family members and caregivers
Keywords: Sickle Cell Disease; Sick Child; Family; Psychological Experience; Literature Review
Citation: Hassan Njifon Nsangou and Régine Scelles. “The Psychological Impact of Sickle Cell Disease on the Sick Child's Family”. Acta Scientific Paediatrics 4.2 (2020): 39-47.
Copyright: © 2020 Hassan Njifon Nsangou and Régine Scelles. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.