How do I promote good sibling relations when a child has an illness?

Help your other kids express their feelings, and reassure them they are not to blame. Tell them they can help their sibling out with chores if your ill child isn’t feeling well enough to contribute or by being quiet when he needs extra rest. If your child has asthma, his siblings can help him remember his inhaler for school or pick up homework assignments if he’s sick or in the hospital. But be careful not to put too much adult responsibility on your other children. You don’t want to take time away from their growing-up experience. The goal is to make sure no one in the family feels like they’re losing out, or losing you, because of your special-needs child. Make sure you spend time together as a family, and also carve out special time for each sibling. You may want to set aside a night a week for each child (and a night for yourself and your partner!) to spend one-on-one time together.

Eventually, by the way, your other children will want to know more about what’s going on and perhaps get involved. If a sibling wants to come along on a hospital or treatment visit, that’s lovely as long as the child is mature enough to handle it. Being together may add comfort during the treatment and understanding later on.

From The Smart Parent's Guide: Getting Your Kids Through Checkups, Illnesses, and Accidents by Jennifer Trachtenberg.

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