Chapter I bambini e la malattia: note storiche sulle relazioni tra famiglia e cure mediche

Overview & Synopsis

This paper explores the historical evolution of the relationship between families and medical care for children, highlighting the shift from traditional home-based remedies to modern public healthcare. It traces the establishment of the first paediatric hospitals in 19th-century Italy and the gradual, often conflicted, acceptance of academic medicine over popular traditions. A central theme is the changing perception of childhood, moving from an emphasis on obedience to a focus on the child’s well-being and happiness. This cultural shift influenced hospital practices, leading to the eventual, though delayed, admission of parents to children’s wards, a practice supported by the research of figures like Bowlby and Robertson. Drawing on an autobiographical case study of a haemophiliac patient in the 1960s, it illuminates the real-world impact of these transformative changes in paediatric care and family involvement.