The Chronic Illness Initiative: Supporting College Students with Chronic Illness Needs at DePaul University.

Abstract

College students with chronic illness find it difficult to succeed in traditional degree programs due to disruptions caused by relapses and unpredictable waxing and waning symptoms. College disability offices are often unable to help, both because their standard supports are not appropriate and because students with chronic illness frequently do not identify themselves as having a disability. This Practice Brief discusses the need for specific programs tailored to the culture of postsecondary students with chronic illness. The Chronic Illness Initiative at DePaul University is presented as a model for such programs. People who suffer from severe and debilitating chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, or heart disease represent a large segment of the U.S. population.1 Childhood chronic illnesses are affecting ever more children, and college students are also increasingly unhealthy (Perrin, Bloom, & Gortmaker, 2007; Shieu, 2001). This development has led to rising insurance, health care, and social costs, as well as increased attention to the needs and rights of people with chronic illness in the workplace. However, we believe that the nation’s colleges and universities have yet to recognize both the significance of this development and its implications for traditional faculty-student relationships, student support services, and the strict time structures that frame college life. The Chronic Illness Initiative (CII) at DePaul University offers specific, researchand experience-based approaches to serve chronically ill students. These approaches provide a model for accommodating the needs of students with chronic illness in the university setting. In the fall of 2000, U.S. four-year colleges enrolled nearly 10,000 students with health-related disabilities, which included conditions such as severe allergies, cystic fibrosis, cancer, lupus, or multiple sclerosis. Students with these conditions represented 15% of all students with disabilities enrolled as first-time, full-time students in four-year colleges (American Council on Education, 2001). However, this number does not begin to reflect the actual number of students with health-related disabilities in the higher education system. Many do not identify themselves as having a disability and are, therefore, not counted in disability rolls. Others enroll in two-year programs or return after contracting an illness after their freshmen year. Students with disabilities often experience difficulties related to attaining a postsecondary degree (National Council on Disability, 2003). In addition

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