Children at risk of psycho-social and developmental problems amidst pandemic – Neurodevelopment expert

• A neurodevelopment expert has called on parents to take a keener interest in childhood issues and best methods of parenting to help them learn how to handle children during and after the pandemic

• She said children and families were most affected in the wake of the pandemic

• She suggested that therapists are made available

Read full articlefor children to help them overcome the fears encountered during the pandemic

Dr Maryln Marbell Wilson, a Neurodevelopment Paediatrician and a member of the West Africa College of Physicians (WACP) has called on parents, to pay attention to the way their children behave in the post-COVID-19 era since the pandemic has caused more harm than good among children.

Speaking at the 2021 virtual public forum organized by the Ghana Chapter of the West African College of Physicians on the theme; “The psycho-social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and the Family”, Dr Wilson said, the pandemic disrupted the normal life and this will go a long way to have a negative impact on the psycho-social development of the child.

“The pandemic had a great impact on everyone and the most affected ones are the children. Anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, speech and language disorders and the likes were some of the impacts of the pandemic on children. Their daily school routine also changed due to the pandemic and knowing that they had stopped schooling because of the pandemic made most of them feel bored and would have lost interest in many things,” she said.

She also noted that despite these challenges the children also have to learn some new things such as cooking, baking and taking up other home chores to make them prepared for the future.

Panellists reiterated the need for language and speech communication to be made a priority since it will help the children make up for the period they stayed home.

They said, children get to learn more when they are being talked to but the pandemic stalled that opportunity for the children and this could affect the way the children talk.

They called on the need for government to employ more speech and language therapists in various hospitals and in schools to help address the gap in speech and language communication in the country especially among children.

Meanwhile, the virtual forum is the first of its kind organized by the Ghana Chapter of the West African College of Physicians and this is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but other forums have been held in the past to deliberate on health-related issues.