The impact of chronic disease on the family

Haemophilia is a chronic disease, affecting patients and their families. The impact of such a disease upon each family is dependent upon family type and characteristics and adjustment to it varies with time, in concordance with the family's lifecycle. In the National Hemophilia Center in Israel we lead a special support system and conduct group therapy from the very early stage of haemophilia diagnosis throughout the lifetime of patients. The general definitions of a family's lifecycle, the effect of the disease and the required adjustment to it are described in this paper. We refer to special difficulties associated with haemophilia as a chronic, genetic disease and describe ways to cope, discussing the support systems that have been established in our centre.