Professional caregivers' perceptions of providing information to parents of children with cancer

• Information has been described as a critical part of the care for parents of children with cancer, but not much is known about how caregivers makes decisions about informing parents. This study aims to illuminate professional caregivers' perceptions of providing information to parents of children with cancer. Twenty caregivers at a Swedish pediatric oncology ward participated in four focus group interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Two themes were found: Matching the amount of information to the parents' needs concerned situations where the amount of information provided according to the caregivers' assessment is deemed too small, appropriate, or too large. Navigating through a vague structure dealt with a disrupted setting, unclear responsibilities within the team, difficult timing, unintelligible information, and underused tools for communication. Implications for intervention development are discussed.

Subject headings

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

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

Keyword

caregivers’ perceptions

content analysis

focus groups

information to parents

pediatric oncology

Nursing

Omvårdnad

caring sciences in social sciences

omvårdnadsforskning med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)