Intercountry adoption, where children are born in one country and adopted by families in another country, has become an increasing global phenomenon (Scherman & Harré, 2004). As indicated by a review of the literature, the research in relation to intercountry adoptees provides contradictory findings in almost every area. However, since there is some evidence to suggest that a proportion of intercountry adoptees are at greater risk of developing mental health difficulties (Van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006) further research, particularly in the UK, is required. As Anjudo (1988) posits, parents are their children‟s major reference group, and this research is therefore aimed at exploring the experience of parenting an intercountry adoptee. A qualitative approach, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was chosen as the most suitable methodology. This approach aims to explore in detail how participants are making sense of their world, and the meanings that experiences hold for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who had accessed or were accessing support from a specialist Adoption and Fostering team. The analysis of the transcribed verbatim accounts yielded four super-ordinate themes; „the importance of resolve and tenacity‟, „blood versus water‟, „weathering the storm of parenthood‟ and „the complexity of cultivating a heritage‟. The results were consistent with some of the existing theoretical, research and clinical literature. Additionally they also provided some new areas for consideration such as the emotional difficulties in negotiating the process of intercountry adoption. Additionally, areas for future research were proposed. Due to the small sample size, implications and recommendations are considered tentatively and include (1) prospective intercountry adoptive parents would benefit from the provision of pre and post-adoption supportive groups, (2) intercountry adoptive families would benefit from greater availability of multi-disciplinary specialist teams to address their needs, (3) there is a role for cultural consultants to aid both adoptive parents and professionals in their work with intercountry adoptive families. Since the number of children internationally who need new families continues to increase it is important to continue to find improved ways to support intercountry adoptive families.

Introduction: Past studies have indicated that nursing support reduces parental stress and anxiety during a child’s NICU hospitalisation and therefore fosters the parents’ abilities to cope with the difficulties they are facing. The importance of parental support has been emphasised in numerous studies in Western countries, however the nursing support which is responsive to the parents may vary between different cultures. The cultural norms of medical and nursing care environments can affect parental stress-related experiences as well as nursing roles in the NICUs across different countries. The aims of this study are, first, to compare the medical and nursing care environments of the two NICUs. Second, the study establishes any similarities and differences in sources of parental stress in the two NICUs. Third, the study illustrates the underlying philosophy of Doane and Varcoe’s (2005) relational approach to family nursing and highlights the importance of relational inquiry in the process of determining the parental support which best responds to individual families’ needs in the NICU. Methods: This study analyses the nursing roles that support parents of children hospitalised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It is a cross-cultural comparison between two NICUs, one in Christchurch, New Zealand and the other in Tokyo, Japan, with both quantitative and qualitative components. Thirty-one families participated voluntarily in the study from each NICU (n=121). The three main sources of data were a NICU staff interview, parental interview, and parental questionnaire using the Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) (Miles, 2002). A thematic analysis was used in order to examine parental comments. Results: The differences between the two NICUs in terms of the NICU care environment, including NICU regulations and routine nursing care, were identified by the staff interviews, highlighting the contrasting dominant ideologies of individualism and collectivism reflected in each culture. The three sources of parental stress, measured by PSS: NICU: Sights and Sounds; Baby’s Appearance and Behaviour; the Parental Role Alteration, were examined. The sources most responsible for parental stress differed between the four groups of parents. Overall, The Tokyo parents seemed to be most concerned about the infant’s condition. The Christchurch parents, however, perceived the change in parental role to be most stressful. Additionally, only the Tokyo fathers experienced stress in association with Sights and Sounds more often than other areas of stress. The infant’s medical/nursing care requirements, oxygen therapy and/or tube feeding, were associated with a high degree of stress for each of the parents’ groups except that of the Christchurch fathers. There was a positive relationship between parental NICU visiting and stress level among the Tokyo parents while this was not the case for the Christchurch parents. The infants’ and parental characteristics were found to be associated with stress level for the Tokyo mothers and Christchurch fathers only. The thematic analysis of interview data revealed three key themes of NICU parental experiences: Uncertainty, NICU contexts and Communication with staff. These themes were identical between the two NICUs. Discussion: This study highlighted the influence of the norms of each NICU, particularly the NICU regulations and nursing care on parental stress-related experiences, and the importance of reflecting upon these norms to critique those professional beliefs which may hamper parental coping abilities. The areas of parental support needing attention were different between the two NICUs. These areas were: the establishment of oral feeding, and infants’ nursing care-related decision-making for the Christchurch NICU whilst parental information/involvement in the early stage of hospitalisation, the influence of visiting regulations, and importing Western-based NICU intervention for the Tokyo NICU. In providing these areas of parental support, the importance of effective, meaningful communication between parents and staff was equally evident in the two NICU settings. In the light of the relational approach to family nursing, this study demonstrated that how nurses communicate with families is not universal: one way to reach across the differences is to listen to parents, and this, it is clear, is crucial to the role of nurses in NICU settings.

Background: Parents of children with epilepsy have been shown to have higher rates of depression, anxiety and stress in comparison to parents of children without epilepsy due to the impact of caring for a child with a chronic condition. A systematic review of existing literature aimed to identify qualitative research that examined parents' experiences of caring for their children with epilepsy. Methods: The systematic review explored the experiences that parents have in caring for their child with epilepsy. A search of electronic databases for qualitative literature was completed. The quality of all eligible articles papers was assessed, and findings from studies were synthesised. Results: Twelve studies met inclusion criteria for the review; findings suggest that parents need time to process their child's diagnosis of epilepsy; they cope with this in differing ways and are motivated to learn how to adapt and cope with parenting their child with epilepsy. Conclusions: Parents of children with epilepsy may experience symptoms of stress, this may motivate them to learn how best to care for their child. Empirical Paper Abstract Background: Parents' experiences of being told about sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) may be particularly challenging to cope with. As little is known about how mothers understand and make sense of SUDEP, a qualitative research project aimed to explore mothers' experiences. It was hoped this would be helpful for clinicians to understand in order to assist them in providing information to parents in a way that minimises distress. Methods: The empirical article explored mother's experiences of being told about SUDEP and the subsequent impact of this for 11 mothers of children with epilepsy. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology was utilised, with themes derived from interpretation of interview transcripts, in order to describe the experiences of the participants. Results: Within the empirical study, five themes emerged. The way in which mothers found out about SUDEP seemed to have a link to their perception of risk and how they subsequently managed feelings of uncertainty and the psychological impact of knowing about SUDEP. Mothers' recommendations to clinicians included when, how and what to tell other parents, and were based on their own helpful and unhelpful experiences of being informed about SUDEP. Conclusions: In being told about SUDEP, mothers may struggle to make sense of it and this can be associated with an increase in anxiety. However, clinicians can reduce potential distress by carefully timing when and how they tell parents, and by making sure information is clear and relevant for the child in question.

Bakgrund: Att äta och därigenom tillgodogöra sig näring är av stor vikt för hälsa och tillfredsställande tillväxt. Flera faktorer påverkar ett barns matvanor och det finns ett flertal orsaker till uppfödningssvårigheter hos barn. Föräldrar till barn med uppfödningssvårigheter kan uppleva stress och oro. Specialbarnavårdscentralen (Special-BVC) är ett komplement till BVC och erbjuder råd samt psykosocialt stöd till föräldrar till barn med svåra matproblem.   Syfte: Att undersöka föräldrars upplevelser av råd och stöd givna av Special-BVC angående uppfödningssvårigheter hos barn. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie med explorativ och deskriptiv design tillämpades. Intervjuer genomfördes med tolv föräldrar till barn med uppfödningssvårigheter som varit inskrivna på Special-BVC. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Innehållsanalysen resulterade i fyra kategorier: Upplevelser och intryck av Special-BVC, Skillnader kring råd och stöd mellan BVC och Special-BVC, Förväntningar inför kontakten med Special-BVC och Upplevelser kring uppfödningssvårigheter. Föräldrarnas upplevelser skiljdes åt men var övervägande positiva även då barnets uppfödningssvårigheter kvarstod till viss del. Slutsats: Föräldrar till barn med uppfödningssvårigheter vittnar om stress och oro samt uttrycker behov av råd och stöd. Special-BVC har genom ett professionellt bemötande, stor kunskap samt erfarenhet kunnat guida föräldrarna i rätt riktning och hjälpt dem att utöva egenvård. Distriktssköterskan möter och vårdar människor i olika faser och situationer i livet och bör inneha ett holistiskt och etiskt förhållningssätt. Det är av stor vikt att människor som upplever svårigheter erbjuds individuellt anpassad vård för att uppnå bästa möjliga hälsa. / Background: To eat and thereby assimilate nutrients is of great importance regarding health and a satisfactory growth. Several factors influence food habits and different reasons to food intake difficulties can be found. Parents to children with food intake difficulties can experience stress and anxiety. The Special Child Health Care Centre (Special-BVC) is a complement to the ordinary Child Health Care and offers counselling and psychosocial support to parents with children experiencing severe food intake difficulties.        Objective: To investigate parents’ experiences of advice and support given by the Special-BVC regarding food intake difficulties.                                                                             Method: A qualitative interview study with exploratory and descriptive design was applied. Interviews were conducted with twelve parents of children with food intake difficulties who were enrolled at Special-BVC. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed with qualitative content analysis.                                              Results: The content analysis generated four categories: Experiences and impressions regarding Special-BVC, Differences about advice and support between the Child Health Care Centre and Special-BVC, Expectations before the contact with Special-BVC and Experiences regarding food intake difficulties. The experiences were different among the parents but predominantly positive even when the child’s food intake difficulties partly remained.                                                                                                 Conclusion: Parents to children with food intake difficulties expresses stress and anxiety and the need of counselling and support. Special-BVC could guide the parents in the right direction through a professional personal treatment, great knowledge and experience, and thereby help them practice self care. The district nurse meets and cares for individuals in different phases and situations in life and ought to possess a holistic and ethic approach. It is of a great importance that people experiencing difficulties, in this case parents to children with food intake difficulties, offers an individually adjusted care to achieve optimal health.

No description available.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine parental experiences and challenges raising children with both T1DM and CD. Twenty-six families, including 30 parents (25 mothers, 4 fathers, and one custodial grandmother), participated in a 30-60 minute audio-recorded interview designed to explore parental experiences raising children with both T1DM and CD. Participants were asked IRB approved open-ended questions about their experiences raising a child with both diseases. Direct quotations best representing categories/sub-categories were identified through selective coding. Analysis revealed seven main themes: Six themes parents are concerned about, including (a) their child's health complications, b) the challenges of daily disease management, c) the time, resources, and expense required to manage both diseases, d) their child's emotional/mental health, e) support from healthcare providers, f) community support/understanding, and lastly (observed by the researcher) g) how positive versus negative experiences and adaptation influence the way parents and children meet their challenges and perceive the future. Parents raising children with both T1DM and CD face many daily challenges as they learn to manage both lifelong chronic diseases. They need access to and support from healthcare providers for up-to-date education, treatment options, and community resources. Positive provider relationships were identified as: being responsive to parent's questions, willing to listen to parents, creating an open and honest dialogue with parents, having a personal relationship with the child, and being a patient advocate. Future research should examine broader ethnic and socioeconomic populations. A quantitative study design could also be used to assess the level of caregiver burden, in order to compare different ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

<p>Denna studie syftar till att undersöka föräldrars upplevelser i samband med att deras barn kallas till möte med Ungdomsteamet i Örebro, vid oro för droganvändning. Med studiens syfte som utgångspunkt, valdes en kvalitativ intervjumetod och insamling av empiriskt material skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer via telefon. Intervjumanualen konstruerades utifrån de frågeställningar som valts och delar av den litteratur som använts i studien. Det insamlade materialet från intervjuer med sex personer utgör underlag för resultatet och tolkas främst utifrån Hübinettes litteratur om drogpreventivt arbete, stämplingsteori och ekologisk systemteori. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av respondenterna var positivt inställda till Ungdomsteamets arbetssätt, oavsett vad drogtestet visade. En del av de tillfrågade kände en viss frustration inledningsvis, på grund av att de undanhölls information om vad mötet de kallats till skulle handla om. Samtliga respondenter framhöll dock att Ungdomsteamet utförde arbetet på ett professionellt sätt och att teamets personal var både kunskapsmässigt uppdaterade och sakliga i sin framställning av ärendena vid dessa möten. Dessutom visar resultatet att föräldrarna riktar en del kritik mot skolans delaktighet i det drogförebyggande arbetet.</p> / <p>This study aims at examining experiences of parents in connection with their child being requisitioned to a meeting with Ungdomsteamet in Örebro, due to concern regarding drug use. In order to concretize the aim of this study, the following four question formulations have been used: With the aim of this study as a starting point, a qualitative interview approach was</p><p>chosen, and collection of empirical data was made through semi structured telephone interviews. The construction of the interview manual is based on the question formulations and some literature used in this study. The gathered material from interviews with six persons is the foundation for the results and is being analysed mainly through Hübinette’s literature on drug prevention, the labelling theory and ecological systems theory. The study shows that the majority of the respondents have a positive view on the approach that is used by the Ungdomsteamet, no matter the result of the drug test. Some of the respondents felt a bit frustrated in the beginning since they were not informed about the purpose of the meeting they were summoned to. All respondents stressed though that the Ungdomsteamet accomplished their job in a professional way and that they both had up-to-date knowledge and were unbiased in their way of running the meetings. The study also shows that the parents are partly critical to the way in which the school is acting in this drug prevention work.</p>

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka föräldrars upplevelser i samband med att deras barn kallas till möte med Ungdomsteamet i Örebro, vid oro för droganvändning. Med studiens syfte som utgångspunkt, valdes en kvalitativ intervjumetod och insamling av empiriskt material skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer via telefon. Intervjumanualen konstruerades utifrån de frågeställningar som valts och delar av den litteratur som använts i studien. Det insamlade materialet från intervjuer med sex personer utgör underlag för resultatet och tolkas främst utifrån Hübinettes litteratur om drogpreventivt arbete, stämplingsteori och ekologisk systemteori. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av respondenterna var positivt inställda till Ungdomsteamets arbetssätt, oavsett vad drogtestet visade. En del av de tillfrågade kände en viss frustration inledningsvis, på grund av att de undanhölls information om vad mötet de kallats till skulle handla om. Samtliga respondenter framhöll dock att Ungdomsteamet utförde arbetet på ett professionellt sätt och att teamets personal var både kunskapsmässigt uppdaterade och sakliga i sin framställning av ärendena vid dessa möten. Dessutom visar resultatet att föräldrarna riktar en del kritik mot skolans delaktighet i det drogförebyggande arbetet. / This study aims at examining experiences of parents in connection with their child being requisitioned to a meeting with Ungdomsteamet in Örebro, due to concern regarding drug use. In order to concretize the aim of this study, the following four question formulations have been used: With the aim of this study as a starting point, a qualitative interview approach was chosen, and collection of empirical data was made through semi structured telephone interviews. The construction of the interview manual is based on the question formulations and some literature used in this study. The gathered material from interviews with six persons is the foundation for the results and is being analysed mainly through Hübinette’s literature on drug prevention, the labelling theory and ecological systems theory. The study shows that the majority of the respondents have a positive view on the approach that is used by the Ungdomsteamet, no matter the result of the drug test. Some of the respondents felt a bit frustrated in the beginning since they were not informed about the purpose of the meeting they were summoned to. All respondents stressed though that the Ungdomsteamet accomplished their job in a professional way and that they both had up-to-date knowledge and were unbiased in their way of running the meetings. The study also shows that the parents are partly critical to the way in which the school is acting in this drug prevention work.