Childhood illness affects thousands of families every year and can have a profound impact on everyone connected with a child, including their parents, siblings, extended family and community.In Why Childhood Illness Matters paediatric nurse and researcher Lyndsey Hookway explores the experience of having a sick child, explaining the effects on families and how they can best be supported by those around them. She examines how illness affects both a child and their family's quality of life, psychological wellbeing, and relationships, as well as a child's education, opportunities, sleep and play.She also explores how the effects of acute, chronic and palliative illness can be understood and managed to improve outcomes for children and their families.