Abstract
Background: Decision-making is just one of the many challenges parents face in caring for their child with cancer. Although parents are increasingly involved in decision-making, research in this area is limited especially within the paediatric oncology setting. This study examined 12 parents' experiences of caring for their ten children aged six months to 12 years with cancer as they progressed through the illness trajectory.
Methods: This longitudinal study was guided by the constructivist paradigm. This approach enabled the researcher as instrument to interpret the reality of parenting a child with cancer through the meanings these parents attached to their experience. The study was conducted in a children's hospital in western Sydney. In-depth interviews, documentary evidence and observations were the strategies used to collect data.
Results: Throughout the treatment period parents were faced with multiple decisions that impacted on their child's care and treatment. Parents involvement in decision making was primarily determined by the nature of the decision and differed for day-to-day care decisions and treatment-related decisions. Parents assumed an active role in day-to day care decisions, while most parents were happy to assume a collaborative or passive rather than active role in treatment-related decisions
Conclusion: It is important that health professionals provide sufficient information and support to parents to enable them to partake in the decision-making process to the degree to which they feel able.
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O'Riordan, E., Wilkes, L. 271 Decision-Making in The Paediatric Oncology Setting: Parents' Perspectives. Pediatr Res 56, 510 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00294
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00294