Abstract
IntroductionChildren who are next-of-kin, for a parent who experience illness or disability, need support. In Norway, guidelines, routines and structured approaches in the community health services are lacking regarding involving children in the care of a parent and for services when supporting children as next-of-kin. Additionally, no existing international review has focused on support from community health and social services for children who are next-of-kin to a parent regardless of the specific illness or disability.AimsThis scoping review examined the current knowledge regarding the types of community health and social services support to children 0 to 17 years old living with a parent experiencing illness or disability. The review also identified children’s support preferences and needs.MethodsThe scoping review involved five stages; identifying research question; identifying relevant articles; selecting articles; charting the data and finally, collating, summarizing and reporting the results.ResultsArticles which included community health and social services interventions and children’s preferences or needs for support were included. The foci of interventions included preventive education, peer support, psychosocial support, and interventions focusing on family communication and recovery planning. Articles focusing on children’s preferences or need for support described their wish to be recognized as a next-of-kin, having someone to talk to and professional and peer support.ConclusionThe review highlighted the importance of children receiving support according to their preferences. It is important to elicit children’s voices, to ensure community health and social services are developed for and tailored to this population.
Highlights
Children who are next-of-kin, for a parent who experience illness or disability, need support
Of the 28 included articles, all but one [27] were empirical articles describing the outcome of an intervention (Table 3) or children’s preferences or expressed need for support when being a next-of-kin
The results indicate that there are existing supportive interventions for children who are next-of-kin for parents experiencing physical and mental illness developed in communities
Summary
Children who are next-of-kin, for a parent who experience illness or disability, need support. No existing international review has focused on support from community health and social services for children who are next-of-kin to a parent regardless of the specific illness or disability. Children who are their parents’ next-of-kin include those who live with biological, adoptive, step- or foster parents experiencing illness or disability. Children are often overlooked by services at a time when they need information about their parents’ state of health [7]; not knowing this information may increase their vulnerability [8] They do need medical information (like what an illness is) and learn how to adaptively cope with their parents’ illness [9]
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