Tips for Talking With Your Kids About Their Health

Talking with your kids about their health or the health of a family member or close friend can be intimidating and scary. Yet according to AdventHealth, “While your natural response as a parent is to protect your child by avoiding conversations surrounding these subjects, it’s important to encourage everyone involved to be open and honest to help your whole family cope through the challenges. From diagnosis and treatment to hard medical decisions and loss, no topic is off-the-table with your [child or teen] if you approach it with sensitivity, care, and love.” The following are a few tips for talking with your kids about their health or the health of a family member or a close friend. 

1. Be honest. You can be truthful with your child or teen, and do not shy away from sharing your own feelings of fear or worry. However, look for opportunities to also share how you are managing your feelings and emotions. 
2. Use simple language. Be mindful of the words or phrases you use to describe or explain a specific topic. Remember that children and even teens do not have the knowledge and experience you have, so explain situations in ways they will understand. 
3. Listen to them. Be attentive to their questions and/or concerns, and try not to “explain away” their emotions or feelings. In your listening, also do not force a response from them. Remember, your child or teen may need time to process, so be sure they know you are there and available to talk. 
4. Walk through the next steps. When the time comes, explain what will happen with appointments; surgeries, treatments, and/or therapies; and recovery. (Again, remember the first three tips when approaching these conversations as well.) 
5. Give them hope. No matter how challenging or dire a situation may be, we know, as followers of Christ, that we are called to, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12). So use this opportunity to remind your child or teen of the hope we have in Jesus, both in this life and in the life to come. 

Kids and especially teens are more intuitive than we often realize. Instead of shying away from hard conversations about their health or the health of a family member or close friend, take the opportunity to build further connection and trust with honest conversations. Rather than your kids drawing their own conclusions or even seeking answers from an untrustworthy source, it is best to hear it from you. 

Since the fall of 2020, Show Hope has awarded more than 100 Medical Care grants to financially assist families with medical expenses for their children welcomed home through adoption, whether it’s a pre-existing condition or a need that just recently developed. Learn more about Show Hope’s Medical Care grants.