A Strong Hospital-School Liaison: A Necessity for Good Rehabilitation Planning for Disfigured Children

Abstract

Next to the family, the school exerts the most influence on a child's normal development and social adjustment. Discharge planning for a child who has been burned must properly involve school teachers and guidance counselors as well as parents. Ideally, the hospital social worker initiates contact with school personnel in much the same way she does the patient's family. She identifies many of the same emotions (grief, fear, anger, and denial) which can affect the ability of the teacher to cope with the new responsibilities and demands imposed on him in receiving a burn scarred child in the classroom. The new federal law in the United States provides guidelines for providing services to handicapped children, but the school staff must be emotionally and psychologically prepared in order for the goals of the law to be achieved. The burn unit social worker is best prepared to carry out this very sensitive and important aspect of planning for a successful reentry, and whenever possible works closely with the hospital school teacher who is cognizant of special education services and the school system's ability to provide them. Case studies are presented showing the impact of both short and long term intervention with the school.