A chance at employment for teens with chronic diseases

Young people with chronic illnesses are at greater risk of unemployment and poverty in adulthood. Employers are sometimes reluctant to hire someone who may be absent frequently or who has physical limitations. Getting work experience early on can make all the difference. That’s why the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) launched its Apprenticeship Program.

Through the Apprenticeship Program, four teens who are patients at the MCH completed a two-week internship in a hospital division. This experience allowed them to develop work readiness skills and gain a growth mindset to build real-world competencies and self-efficacy, as well as add to their resumes.

Laurie Marchand, 16, is one of them. Suffering from severe gastroesophageal reflux, she had to undergo surgery at a young age to block the reflux. Over the past three years, her condition has deteriorated. Eating has become so difficult that she must be fed through a tube directly into her bowel.

Despite this, Laurie is passionate about her studies, loves to cook and is involved as a patient partner at the MCH. Living in Trois-Rivières, she and her mother believed so strongly in the benefits of the program that they decided to spend two weeks in Montreal to participate.