What if your child were dying in a neonatal intensive care unit?

In the April, 2009 issue of the journal, Psychiatric Services, a frontline report entitled, "Psychiatric Help for Caregivers of Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care" caught my eye.

My son in law is a fellow in Pediatric Primay care in a major children's hospital and we have talked about the mental health needs of parents and other family members of seriously ill and dying children. Also, there are significant mental health needs of staff members who work in such settings. These needs are not the result of pathology but rather grief and vicarious trauma of witnessing severe losses to parents when their children die.

Friedman, Kessler, and Martin describe a psychiatric program started at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. The program is a significant contribution to the well being of the families and staff and yet as they point out the services provided are not reimbursable and are grant funded.

It seems very short sighted that services to these patients and their families are for physical care only while psychological, emotional, and spiritual care is considered "ancillary" even when it is very predictable.

It would be very beneficial and in the long run cost effective, to finance these services as a predictable and routine way of providing care to this population.

Here is the ending paragraph from the very brief article:

Both parents and staff have reported that the presence of a psychiatrist is beneficial. However, if grant support is not available, financial support for such a service is a critical issue in the United States. Liaison work is often not reimbursable, although it is greatly needed. Potential for decreased length of stay, improved parenting, and decreased staff stress should encourage programs to meet the challenge of obtaining requisite funding for this at-risk population.