Afraid of medical care : school-aged children’s narratives about medical fear

• Fear can be problematic for children who come into contact with medical care. This study aimed to illuminate the meaning of being afraid when in contact with medical care, as narrated by children 7–11 years old. Nine children participated in the study, which applied a phenomenological hermeneutic analysis methodology. The children experienced medical care as “being threatened by a monster,” but the possibility of breaking this spell of fear was also mediated. The findings indicate the important role of being emotionally hurt in a child's fear to create, together with the child, an alternate narrative of overcoming this fear.

Subject headings

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

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

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

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

Keyword

Children; Medical fear; Narratives; Fairytales; Phenomenological hermeneutic

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)