Children living in foster care belong to a vulnerable child population that is afflicted by a wide range of acute and chronic psychosocial, mental, and even physical health conditions requiring multidisciplinary care services. Because of the complexity of their nature, such care services must be specific and cannot simply be integrated into standard services of the general pediatric population. The organizational profile of services for vulnerable children should include special healthcare assistance provided by specialized personnel. The combination of psychosocial, medical, and educational care usually leads to immediate and long-term extra cost, which may pay out only decades later. This social and economic investment may be regarded by economists as being hardly affordable, especially during recession periods. However, there are alternatives allowing adequate care even in times of economic turmoil.The aim of the report is to raise the awareness of the pediatric community and the public opinion toward the importance of investing in health programs offering adequate protection, prevention, and provision of care for orphan, abandoned, maltreated, and neglected children.

Foster Care: A Fragile Reality Needing Social Attention, and Economic Investments

PETTOELLO MANTOVANI, MASSIMO
2016-01-01

Abstract

Children living in foster care belong to a vulnerable child population that is afflicted by a wide range of acute and chronic psychosocial, mental, and even physical health conditions requiring multidisciplinary care services. Because of the complexity of their nature, such care services must be specific and cannot simply be integrated into standard services of the general pediatric population. The organizational profile of services for vulnerable children should include special healthcare assistance provided by specialized personnel. The combination of psychosocial, medical, and educational care usually leads to immediate and long-term extra cost, which may pay out only decades later. This social and economic investment may be regarded by economists as being hardly affordable, especially during recession periods. However, there are alternatives allowing adequate care even in times of economic turmoil.The aim of the report is to raise the awareness of the pediatric community and the public opinion toward the importance of investing in health programs offering adequate protection, prevention, and provision of care for orphan, abandoned, maltreated, and neglected children.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11369/339181
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