Book Reviews : Health Guides Could Be Cure for Parents’ Anxiety
Should I Call the Doctor?: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Your Child’s Illnesses and Injuries by Christine A. Nelson MD and Susan Pescar (Warner Books: $12.50, paperback)
Children: How to Understand Their Symptoms by American Medical Assn. (Random House: $9.95, paperback)
Taking Care of Your Child: A Parent’s Guide to Medical Care by Robert H. Pantell MD, James F. Fries MD and Donald M. Vickery MD (Addison Wesley: $14.95, paperback)
Your 3-month-old child is running a fever and starts to cough. What should you do?
Your 14-year-old son has just fallen off his bicycle and bumped his head. How do you tell if there has been a serious head injury?
Your toddler has developed a skin rash. Should you call the doctor or apply home treatment?
Parents Face Many Problems
These and scores of other health problems, from common illnesses to life-threatening emergencies, may confront any parent. How do you know what to do? How often have you felt helpless when faced with a sick child or confused as to whether to call a doctor or wait until the symptoms go away? Have you ever wasted your time in the doctor’s office only to find out that you could have safely and easily managed the problem at home? Have you ever delayed seeking treatment for a seemingly minor complaint which then developed into a problem that should have been treated earlier?
It’s not easy being a parent and managing the health care of your children. Parents are not given nearly enough credit (or information and skills) for the important role they play in family health care.
Fortunately, there are now several excellent home health reference books for parents.
“Should I Call the Doctor?” by pediatrician Christine Nelson and health writer Susan Pescar is a mammoth, encyclopedic pediatric medical guide covering everything from common illnesses to life-threatening emergencies. It features highlighted “Quick Reference” sections that enable you to quickly assess the seriousness of your child’s condition and decide when professional assistance is required. It also contains very helpful “Safety Checklists” that can alert you to hazards so you can prevent childhood accidents, poisonings, burns, drownings and other injuries.
The book is authoritative, clear and comprehensive. The scope and detail, however, is at times so great that I thought I was reading a textbook for medical students. In spite of the attempt to highlight instructions in the “Quick Reference” sections and an excellent index, I fear that some parents may be put off by the sheer mass of information.
The American Medical Assn. has recently released “Children: How to Understand Their Symptoms,” another book in its Home Health Library series. This slender volume is organized into 50 decision charts, each one describing a symptom such as fever, diarrhea, coughing or sleeping problems. The charts are designed like a map. By answering a series of yes-or-no questions about the health problem, you are guided to the proper diagnosis, treatment or action such as “call your physician now.”
Complex Format
The advice and self-help information is generally very good, though most of the branches in the decision tree seem to lead one to the doctor. My chief complaint with the book is the format. The decision charts are printed in type so small that it strains the eyes and are at times so complex that they strain the brain. Some of the charts seem like a cross between a maze and a Los Angeles freeway map. As one mother said to me, “Trying to follow the chart to decide what to do for my child’s headache gave me a headache!”
“Taking Care of Your Child” by Pantell, Fries and Vickery is a gem. This book describes in a caring, easy-to-read style the essential information and skills a parent needs to know to manage the health of their children from birth to adolescence. It contains excellent discussions of how to get the most out of your interaction with the doctor and how to properly stock and use the home pharmacy.
The heart of the book is a section with 95 decision-making charts. These charts consist of a few simple questions to guide you in a step-by-step fashion from a symptom such as sore throat, earache, abdominal pain or burns to a decision on the most appropriate action--home treatment or a telephone call or visit to a physician.
The descriptions of home treatment are clear, simple and sensible. Each chart also includes a section “What to Expect at the Doctor’s Office.” The tone is reassuring, supportive and encourages informed self-care.
All three books would be excellent additions to a parent’s home health library, but “Taking Care of Your Child” probably represents the best balance between responsible information and a “user-friendly” format.
