Helping Families Grow and Heal

Cliff and Becky felt overwhelmed when their baby Rosie received a new medical diagnosis. They had never heard of this before and when the doctor spoke, words like seizures, death and brain damage paralyzed them with fear.

They had enrolled in SCAN’s Healthy Families program to track Rosie’s development and learn how to build that bond, but they were struggling with the weight of her medical diagnosis. While they spoke about it with their Healthy Families worker, Becky felt too guilty and sad to fully explain. Instead, she took the visits as a chance to take a break and let Cliff bond with Rosie.

The Healthy Families worker, Valerie, took this at face value for a few visits, unsure of why the mother was hesitant to engage. After a few weeks, the opportunity to talk over Rosie’s health presented itself and Valerie could ask more questions. Becky brought out the binder of health information and spoke about their visit to Riley Children’s Hospital.

Understanding Becky’s concern and stress, Valerie was able to partner with this family to provide more education, stress relief and a listening ear. In recent visits, Becky’s stress level was much improved and Rosie was doing well.

Learn more about this program by visiting the Healthy Families page.