Sibling supporters' experiences of person-centred care for siblings who have a brother or a sister with cancer

• Conclusions The sibling supporters think that they can give beneficial support to siblings who have a brother or a sister with cancer. They felt that they gave the siblings person-centred care, which meant that they listened to the siblings´ stories and met them where they were in their crisis. The study confirms that sibling supporters should be a part of the healthcare team that treats and supports the family when a child has cancer. Background Siblings of a child with a life-threatening disease such as cancer have a right to measures that promote their health and welfare. Siblings may find it hard to understand what is happening to the sick child with cancer and why they react as they do. In Sweden sibling supporters started to become a part of children´s cancer centers in 1990. Since 2013 are sibling supporters available at all of the six children´s cancer centers in Sweden and funded by the Children's Cancer Fund. The sibling supporter carries out various activities together with siblings and listens to their situation. He/she meets the siblings during the sick child is alive and when he/she is dying or has died. Purpose The aim of this project was to explore sibling supporters’ thoughts about the possibilities they had to provide support for siblings with a brother or a sister with a life-threatening disease such as cancer. The research question was to explore the sibling supporters’ experiences of supporting the siblings of children with cancer. Method The study was qualitative descriptive in design. The data were collected from August 2014 to September 2014 by means of qualitative interviews as a form of communication between the interviewers and each of the 12 sibling supporters. The participants comprised 9 women and 3 men, aged between 35 and 57 years (mean 46 years). They had been working as a sibling supporter between 1.5 and 15 years (mean 5 years). Qualitative content analysis was used to draw a systematic conclusion from the text and also to extract its message. Results The text resulting from the content analysis was sorted into five categories. The five categories that make up the participants´ thoughts about the possibilities they had are presented below. 1. Want to be a support from diagnosis to death. 2. Will allow the siblings to meet each other. 3. Facilitate for siblings through ageappropriate activities. 4. Letting the siblings be encouraged by a positive environment. 5. The sibling supporters help siblings by interacting with people around them.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

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