CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A recent survey by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago showed the toll the pandemic is taking and estimates that about 70,000 toddlers and children in the city are showing symptoms of mental and behavioral health issues.
“What we’ve found is that nearly half of Chicago parents had talked with their children’s primary care doctor about mental or behavioral health concerns for their kids within the last six to twelve months,” said Dr. Matthew Davis, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Lurie Children’s and Chair of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The survey went out to 1,505 Chicago parents from November 2020 through February 2021 in all 77 of Chicago’s community areas.
It was part of the Voices of Child Health in Chicago program at Lurie Children’s and shows the widespread social and emotional impact of the pandemic on children.
“It could cause kids to demonstrate more tantrums, or to act out more, have difficulty getting along with other kids, perhaps be more clingy with their parents or a grandparent or have more nightmares,” Davis added.
Another concern is the lack of mental and behavioral health resources for children in the City of Chicago.
“About a quarter of parents said they’d been able to find behavioral health care for their children, but about the same number said that they had not been able to,” Davis said.
In fact, nearly one in five parents said they were unable to access care, most often because they could not find a specialty provider, they could not afford it, or they could not get an appointment in a timely fashion.
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Parents who are concerned about their children’s behavioral health and well-being can find assistance through the following sources:
• Primary care providers who can discuss parents’ concerns and provide guidance about next steps that might include screening or referrals to specialists who can help.
• School administrators or school social workers who can inform about resources available through their child’s school.
• Lurie Children’s Center for Childhood Resilience, which fosters mental resiliency in youth, and lists resources and guidance for parents and schools.
Parents can also encourage their child to practice self-care in 15 or 30 minute increments throughout the day, such as taking walks, playing with pets, and listening and dancing to music.