mental-health-2019-posters-abstracts

32 / 32

Page 82
conferenceseries.com
Volume 21 International Journal of Emergency Mental
Health and Human Resilience
ISSN: 1522-4821
Mental Health 2019
March 07-08, 2019
March 07-08, 2019 | Barcelona, Spain
5th International Conference on
Mental Health and Human Resilience
Promoting resilience in families with children with congenital heart disease
Gabriella Arrien
William James College, USA
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, affecting approximately 40,000 infants annually
in the US. CHD involves a variety of heart defects, with a wide spectrum fromsimple tomoderate to complex. Due
to advances in pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery, life expectancy in these children has increased drastically over
the past decades. Now 90% of infants diagnosed with CHD live well into adulthood. Due to the increase in survival
rates, attention has shifted towards the impact of CHD on psychological and cognitive functioning. Children with
CHD are at risk for neurodevelopmental and psychosocial problems related to operative factors. Children with CHD
display lower cognitive functioning, and higher rates in behavioral, attentional and emotional problems. Increased
parental stress also adds to the psychosocial issues experienced by these children. For this reason, psychological care
is needed to promote resiliency in this population. Incorporating psychological services into treatment protocols
with children with CHD is beneficial and will improve behavioral and emotional functioning across their lifespan.
This paper will review the definitions of resiliency and Congenital Heart Disease, as well as the professional roles of
people treating infants with CHD, the risk factors deterring resiliency, and the developmental outcomes in children
with CHD. It will then examine some of the most common psychological interventions for children with CHD
and chronic illness, including CBT and psychoeducational interventions, and family-based interventions that also
include a psychoeducational component. Author will conclude by discussing the value of this multidimensional
approach and why it is the most effective intervention strategy to promote resiliency in children with CHD.
Int J Emerg Ment Health 2019, Volume 21
DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C1-027