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- Dahlblom, Kjerstin, 1950-
(författare)
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Home alone : sibling caretakers in León, Nicaragua
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sibling caretaking, although common across time and cultures, has not been well researched from the carer’s point of view. In Nicaragua, ranked as one of the poorest countries in the Americas, sibling caretaking is common. The country’s historical background and its state of chronic poverty, widespread unemployment, loose family structures, and migration and mobility makes of the old practise of shared management child care a necessity. Households headed by sing¬le mothers constitute a particular Nica¬raguan charact¬eristic. Many children are expected to help in their own families and care for their siblings and other children living in their households. In its broadest sense sibling caretaking is a public health concern, and we conducted this study to widen the understanding of the phenomenon as it is represented in a setting undergoing a rapid social transition. The main objectives were to identify, describe and analyse the life situation of sibling caretakers in poor areas in León, Nicaragua, with focus on how they perceived it themselves. A combined qualitative and quantitative methodological design was used, mainly applying an ethnographic approach. A further ambition was to explore involvement of children in a participatory research process in accordance with the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’. The overall emotion expressed among the caretakers was pride, even if their situation often was characterized by stress and coping problems. They perceived their work as important for their families and they appreciated to fend for their siblings. Household work and nurturing of siblings were shaping the future lives of the caretakers and constituted part of their socialization. Even if many of these children achieve essential life skills as caretakers, they are at risk of falling behind as they grow older. Their long-term personal development is likely to be hampered by the obligations they have as caretakers. The carers' awareness of missing out on education was the most problematic issue for them. From a societal point of view, caretaking has negative consequences. The individual child is marginalised with limited access to basic education, contributing to overall low educational levels in Nicaragua. While the structuring conditions leading to sibling caretaking may be difficult to change, awareness of how these can affect children might make way for improvements in terms of access to school education and support from the society. The knowledge gained from this study should be further utilised to plan for interventions that take children’s perspectives into consideration.
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| 2. |
- Ygge, Britt Marie, 1952-
(författare)
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Parental Involvement in Pediatric Hospital Care-Implications for Clinical Practice and Quality of Care
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to gain a deeper understanding about parents’ perceptions of quality of care and their own involvement in pediatric hospital care.Parental involvement in the care of hospitalized children has gained increased attention in recent years. The aim of this thesis was to study parental involvement in pediatric hospital care and investigate its association to the work conditions of pediatric hospital staff. The first study validated a parent questionnaire that measured parents’ views of the quality of care. The questionnaire measures quality of care by means of eight indices and an overall quality grade. Results showed that the questionnaire demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability. Study 2 examined whether there were differences in quality ratings between respondents and non-respondents to the parent questionnaire. The main parent questionnaire was distributed in hospital and a follow-up questionnaire was sent home to a random sample of parents three week after the hospital visit. This study pinpointed a number of difficulties that need to be considered when conducting investigations of non-response.The third study aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of factors that influence parents’ views of their own involvement in pediatric care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of chronically ill children. Four themes emerged from the interviews: support, professionalism, work environment and responsibility. Underlying these four themes is a need for a clear communication between staff and parents.The fourth study examined hospital staff’s perceptions of parental involvement and possible consequences for staff work environment. A questionnaire was sent out to hospital staff at oncology, neurology and surgery units at three university children’s hospitals. Hospital staff on oncology units gave higher ratings to their workplace routines for involving parents in the child’s care, and experienced less work strain from parental demands, compared to staff on the other units. The results of this thesis indicate a clear association between parental involvement in pediatric care and the work conditions of pediatric hospital staff.
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