National Lottery Charities Board Northern Ireland

Hope for heart disease children

Children are more resilient than we think but when a child has suffered from congenital heart disease since birth then it is hard not to over-protect them.

The Northern Ireland Children's Heart Trust and the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children have come together, with the help of a grant of �302,403 from the National Lottery Charities Board over three years, to find ways to help families overcome their fears.

Known as CHIP (Congenital Heart Disease Intervention Programme) the project will study two groups of children who need cardiac surgery or cardiac catheterisation: new born babies and primary school children. The groups will be split in two, one half will get the hospitals normal information and the other will be involved in a new programme of information and support to parents and teachers.

Paediatric cardiologist Dr Conor Mulholland explains that families tend to over-protect children with heart problems.

"Although heart disease can be a death sentence, many children can have a very good quality of life. Understandably, families have an innate fear of letting them do too much, but children are more resilient than we think. This project is all about intervening at an early stage to see if we can overcome these difficulties."

"We are trying to ensure that children with congenital heart disease lead as normal lives as possible, not only physically but also socially and emotionally. Preconceived ideas of the effects this type of heart disease has on children sometimes prevents this. Unwrapping the cotton wool of concern just a little can be more beneficial than you think."

Noel Stewart, Chairman of the National Lottery Charities Board in Northern Ireland, attended the official launch in October. He praised the work of the project and said, "We are pleased to be associated with such ground-breaking work in the medical field and to facilitate work from the caring, medical and research professions, to improve the quality of life of many people."

The research programme is distinctive among the funding programmes of the Charities Board. Unlike any other programme, it brings together the research and scientific community with charities and voluntary organisations to work in close partnership and build strong research projects. This award is one of 147 grants totalling some �25m across the UK under the last Health and Social Research programme.

A new research programme opens on 11 June 2001. The new programme will support medical research and social research in the areas of health and social well-being. Details have been published in a booklet, available by calling 0845 791 9191 or visiting our website at www.nlcb.org.uk