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Newly published report gives children's doctors and parents
specific guidance for helping kids deal with summer camp, hospitalization
and other separations
ANN ARBOR, MI — A new report urges parents and children's
doctors to change their thinking about homesickness among children,
to see it as a nearly universal but highly preventable and treatable
phenomenon — rather than an unavoidable part of childhood.
The report, published in the journal Pediatrics, gives parents
and physicians specific guidance to help anticipate and lessen
the distress that homesickness can cause among kids and teens
at summer camps, hospitals, boarding schools and colleges.
The paper's authors are a clinical psychologist at one of the
nation's leading boarding schools, Phillips Exeter Academy in
New Hampshire, and a University of Michigan physician who specializes
in camp health issues. They're also old friends who first met
at summer camp more than 25 years ago.
It's the first time that the evidence about homesickness prevention
and treatment, which has been gathered through years of psychological
studies, has been presented for pediatricians and family doctors
to use.
The authors and the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on
School Health that sponsored the report hope that those physicians
will add homesickness counseling to children's camp and school
physicals, and to the care of hospitalized children. They also
point out special issues for children who have attention deficit
disorder or developmental issues — for example, the importance
of continuing the use of medications for those conditions while
at camp and not taking a "drug holiday."
"For over 100 years camps and schools have patted homesick
kids on the back, tried to keep them busy and hoped it will go
away," says lead author Christopher Thurber, Ph.D., the
staff psychologist at Exeter, research consultant to the American
Camp Association and author of a camp handbook for parents. "But
research shows that it's healthier, and more effective to think
about prevention. This report aims to get the message to parents
and those who are taking care of kids before they go to camp."
One of the basic tips for parents and doctors is to talk to
kids ahead of any separation, whether it's for camp, college
or a hospital stay of even a few days.
"What parents say – and what pediatricians say — beforehand
matters, and is very important for the intensity of homesickness," says
Edward Walton, M.D., a U-M Health System assistant professor
of emergency medicine and pediatrics who serves on the board
of the American Camp Association (ACA) and was lead author of
a 2005 AAP guideline on summer camp health that was produced
in conjunction with the ACA.
One of the most important things for parents and doctors to
recognize, and to say to kids before any separation, is that
it's normal, not strange, to feel homesick. In fact, research
has shown that 90 percent of children attending summer camp feel
some levels of homesickness and that 20 percent face a serious
level of distress that — if untreated — worsens over
time and interferes with their ability to benefit from a camp
experience.
Thurber's recent research compared the effectiveness of key
preparation tools to camps' standard preparation. The results
showed that a combination of coaching parents and educating children
about effective coping actually lowered the intensity of first-year
campers' homesickness by 50 percent, on average.
ACA
now publishes a DVD-CD set "The Secret Ingredients
of Summer Camp Success" that makes these evidence-based
homesickness prevention strategies publicly available for the
first time. It also makes information available to parents online,
as part of its effort to preserve, promote and enhance the camp
experience for children and adults. ACA is also the only national
organization that accredits camps, who must meet up to 300 health
and safety standards to gain accreditation through the ACA.
In children whose separation from their parents is sudden and
unplanned, such as hospitalization, as many as half experience
moderate to severe levels of homesickness that can interfere
with their functioning. In fact, Thurber says, special care needs
to be taken with children who are hospitalized for an indefinite
amount of time, because even a casual remark by a physician or
nurse about when the child might be able to go home can cause
severe distress and even interfere with care if that date arrives
and the child is still in the hospital.
For more routine separations, such as the one million children
who go away to school or the 12 million who attend residential
(overnight) camp each year, homesickness can get in the way of
the important character-building lessons that these experiences
bring.
Some of the tips for parents and children's doctors:
- Involve children in the decision to spend time away from
home, so that children have a sense of control.
- Tell children that homesickness is normal, but that they
can use strategies like writing letters home, sharing their
feelings with other people, and thinking about all the good
things that camp or school is giving them, to help ease their
worry.
- Arrange for a practice time away from home, such as a two-
or three-day stay with relatives. If a child has reached high
school without having gone to summer camp or more than a night
away from home, this is especially important to prepare them
for college or independent life.
- Practice writing letters, and supply pre-stamped, pre-addressed
envelopes and paper before the child leaves home.
- Work with the child to learn about the camp, school, or hospital
ahead of time, so they know what to anticipate.
- If possible, try to introduce them to other campers, counselors
or teachers ahead of time. A familiar face can make all the
difference in the adjustment to a new environment.
- Encourage kids, even older teens heading off to college,
to make friends with others and seek out trusted adults to
connect to.
- Before the separation, don't make comments that express anxiety
or ambivalence about the child going away. Even "I hope
you'll be okay" or "what will I do without you" can
leave a child worried that something bad might happen to them
or their parents, and make them preoccupied with thoughts of
home.
- Use a calendar to show exactly the amount of time a child
will be away, if that's known. Predictability and perspective
on the length of separation is important whenever possible.
- Don't make a "pick up plan" or a deal with a child
to bring he or she home if they don't like the experience of
being away. This undermines the child's sense that their parents
have confidence in their ability to be on their own, and set
an expectation that they won't like the new experience.
- Warn children against keeping feelings of homesickness to
themselves, doing something "bad" in order to get
sent home or trying to escape.
- If your child takes medicine for attention, behavior or psychological
conditions, don't use camp as an excuse to take a "drug
holiday." Make sure that they, and the camp's nurse or
counselors, know their medication schedule and the importance
of sticking to it.
- If your child has special medical needs, such as diabetes
or asthma, make sure that the camp or school they'll be going
to has staff who knows how to handle day-to-day care and emergencies.
Parents who have managed their child's care intensely can have
an extra hard time giving up that control, and children can
sense that anxiety.
- Above all, know whether your child is really ready for a
separation. If you're not sure, ask their doctor – but
not while the child can hear the conversation.
All in all, summer camp and other separations from home can
be great "life training" experiences for children,
building their independence and teaching self-reliance and social
skills that they'll use throughout life, says Walton and Thurber,
who met when they were boys at the YMCA's Camp Belknap on Lake
Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, and worked there together this
past summer.
Ultimately, they says, parents and pediatricians must work together
to help children prepare for and cope with separations, while
camp directors, boarding school staff, hospital Child Life specialists
and others can help treat homesickness once it arises.
Resources for parents, physicians and camp/school/hospital
staff:
Homesickness prevention information and The Summer Camp Handbook,
by Christopher Thurber - www.campspirit.com
American Camp Association Online Resource for Families – www.CampParents.org
American Camp Association accredited camp locator: find.ACAcamps.org
American Camp Association DVD/CD: The
Secret Ingredients of Summer Camp Success
American Academy of Pediatrics - www.AAP.org
Copyright 2007, University of Michigan Health System. Used
by permission.
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