Week 6 discussion
DQ1
Think back to the last commercial or advertisement you saw
for a headache reliever. Who was suffering from the headache? Most likely, that
person was neither a child nor an adolescent. Often the media portrays adults
with headaches, such as a mother struggling through her daily activities or a
businessman working in the office late at night. Yet, headaches afflict
children and adolescents at a high rate. Children and adolescents may
experience many types of headaches, such as tension, migraine, mixed (tension
and migraine), cluster, and sinus headaches. Some possible causes of these
types of headaches include illness, lack of sleep, and watching television for
long periods of time. Although children and adolescents experience headaches,
adolescents tend to experience greater impacts. For many illnesses that affect
adolescents, a non-medical treatment may be preferred. Psychologists and clinicians
continue to search for non-medical treatments for adolescents that experience
headaches.
For this Discussion, select a type of headache common to
adolescents. Think about how that type of headache might impact various areas
of an adolescent’s life and consider non-medical treatments that may be
effective.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 3 a brief description of the type of headache
you selected. Then explain possible impacts of this type of headache on
adolescents’ educational experience, social functioning, and families. Finally,
describe one type of non-medical treatment that might be recommended for
adolescents experiencing the type of headache you selected and explain why that
treatment might be effective. Support your responses with the Learning
Resources and current literature.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific
references to the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 5 to at least one of your colleagues who
selected a different type of headache than you selected. Then, offer an
alternative non-medical treatment than the one in the original post. Briefly
explain why the treatment you recommended may be effective for the headache
that your colleague selected.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any
insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any
insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for
entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
DQ2
Discussion 2 – Week 6
COLLAPSE
Children and adolescents are diagnosed with epilepsy after
experiencing two or more seizures that are not attributed to high fever or low
blood sugar. There are several types of seizures that children and adolescents
may have, and some types are extremely difficult to recognize. During
generalized seizures, children and adolescents may be convulsing, involving
muscle spasms, and/or jerking movements. However, if children and adolescents
experience non-convulsive or petit mal seizures, they may stare blankly with
little awareness of surroundings. Non-epileptic seizures are different from
epileptic seizures in that while they look like seizures, they do not have any
abnormal brain activity (National Institutes of Health, 2004).
It would be ideal if children and adolescents with epilepsy
or non-epileptic seizures could take medications to control their seizures
without experiencing side effects. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill that
delivers perfect results. While dozens of medications may be effective in
controlling seizures, most patients experience side effects, such as fatigue,
dizziness, and impaired cognitive function (Schachter, 2006). For some children
and adolescents, these side effects are minimal, but for others, they can have
a more significant impact. The side effects from the medication and the
symptoms of the seizures can interfere with children and adolescents’ social
acceptance and self-esteem levels. It is imperative for parents and guardians,
health care providers, and children and adolescents to find the right balance
in medication dosage levels; however, it can be difficult (Epilepsy Foundation
Western/Central Pennsylvania, 2003). Often, as part of their developing
autonomy, adolescents want to participate in the decision-making process
regarding their medications.
For this Discussion, students whose last names begin with
A–M should review Scenario #1 (Bobby).
Students whose last names begin with N–Z should review Scenario #2
(Jake). Consider strategies and
interventions that might be most effective in your assigned scenario.
Scenario 1 – Bobby is an eighth grader in middle school.
During lunch, he drops his tray, falls to the ground, and has a grand mal
seizure. Many students in the cafeteria surround him. Some were afraid while
others laughed. Bobby was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He did not return
to school the next day because he was embarrassed by his seizure. When he
returned two days later, some students were concerned about his health, but
mostly he was greeted by jokes and teasing. Because of the seizure, Bobby was
no longer allowed to play football for the rest of the season.
Scenario 2 – Jake is a 16-year-old junior in high school and
is experiencing side effects from his seizure medication, including poor
attention, decreased motor skills, lack of motivation, low energy levels, and
decreased mood. Because these impairments have affected his academic success
and kept him from obtaining a driver’s license, he would like to stop taking
his medications so that he can feel “normal.” As Jake is only 16, he needs
parent or guardian approval to discontinue medication use.
With these thoughts in mind:
Scenario 1 – Post by Day 4 a description of an intervention
you might suggest to the school and to the family to support Bobby with his
epilepsy. Then, explain why the intervention you selected might be effective to
support Bobby in dealing with embarrassment, bullying, and his removal from the
football team. Justify your response with the Learning Resources and current
literature.
Scenario 2 – Post by Day 4 whether you would advocate for
Jake stopping his medication and explain why. Then explain strategies the
family might employ to include Jake in the decision-making process. Support
your response with the Learning Resources and current literature.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific
references to the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 7 to at least one of your colleagues that was
assigned the alternate scenario. Provide an alternative strategy for Scenario
#1 or an alternative intervention for Scenario #2. Briefly describe why your
recommendation might that be effective.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any
insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for
entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
References
Epilepsy Foundation Western/Central Pennsylvania. (2003)
Epilepsy and learning. Retrieved from
http://www.efwp.org/programs/epilepsy_learning.shtml
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Office of Communications and Public Liaison.
(2004). Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research (NIH 04-156). Retrieved
from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm
Schachter, S. C. (2006, December 15). Side effects. Epilepsy
Therapy Project. Retrieved from http://www.epilepsy.com/EPILEPSY/MEDICINE_SIDEEFFECTS
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