This thoughtful hour-long program goes a long way to clear up several deep rooted misconceptions about the role of health care in the lives of terminally or gravely ill children.
The first issue the listener is brought to bear on is the simple reality that young children do die. As much as we want to believe that our own children, nieces, nephews, young friends will all outlive us...sometimes they don't. We hear very moving interviews and sounds of a child with cystic fibrosis and another with cerebral palsy. It's hard (emotionally) to hear their labored breathing but that seems to be the point.
The first 8 minutes of this program set the tone for whole hour, the fact that no matter how enamored our medical system is with high-tech procedures with children the most important thing is to do is just spend TIME with them, play with them, talk to them...that is how children work through their anxieties about death.
This hour has lots of interviews and live sound--children, physicians, parents, social workers all who attest to the fact that children have special end-of-life concerns that are different from adults. A great piece of programming that would be a good ever-green feature for most stations.
Review of HEART-to-HEART Pgm II: Children Sometimes Die
Adam Allington
Posted on August 25, 2005 at 09:18 AM
This thoughtful hour-long program goes a long way to clear up several deep rooted misconceptions about the role of health care in the lives of terminally or gravely ill children.
The first issue the listener is brought to bear on is the simple reality that young children do die. As much as we want to believe that our own children, nieces, nephews, young friends will all outlive us...sometimes they don't. We hear very moving interviews and sounds of a child with cystic fibrosis and another with cerebral palsy. It's hard (emotionally) to hear their labored breathing but that seems to be the point.
The first 8 minutes of this program set the tone for whole hour, the fact that no matter how enamored our medical system is with high-tech procedures with children the most important thing is to do is just spend TIME with them, play with them, talk to them...that is how children work through their anxieties about death.
This hour has lots of interviews and live sound--children, physicians, parents, social workers all who attest to the fact that children have special end-of-life concerns that are different from adults. A great piece of programming that would be a good ever-green feature for most stations.