Teenagers with a Dying Parent : A Qualitative Retrospective Study

• Background: Beeing a teenager living with a dying parent is well known to be distressing with a significant impact on teenagers psychological well-beeing. To support teenagers and prevent long-term psychological consequences we need to find out more about teenagers experiences. Aim: The aim was to explore teenagers experiences from living with a severely ill dying parent. Method: Repeated qualitative interviews were conducted with ten teenagers that had lost a parent within a year. The parent had received specialist palliative care by the time of death. Qualitative content analyses were used for analyses. Results: Preliminary results show that teenagers carry a great responsibility in the care of the sick parent and the healthy parent, siblings and general ordinary family matters. While carrying this responsibility they experience loneliness and try to adjust to the situation in different ways by being loyal to their parents. In their process to understand that the parent is dying they prepare by observing and trying to make sense of the illness symptoms they notice. Feeling trust to and support from the parents makes them feel more involved and less lonely and responsible. Conclusion: This study contributed with knowledge about great feelings of responsibility and loneliness among teenagers who has a dying parent. Healthcare professionals in palliative care could work to acknowledge and try to support the teenagers to feel involved, less lonely and less burdened by responsibility. An important aspect is also to support the healthy parent enough and thereby reduce the responsibility from the teenager.

Subject headings

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

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

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)