Parent perspectives and psychosocial needs 2 years following child critical injury: A qualitative inquiry

Kim Foster,Connie Van,Andrea Mccloughen,Rebecca Mitchell,Alexandra Young,Kate Curtis

doi:10.1016/j.injury.2020.01.017

Abstract

IntroductionTo provide effective care and promote wellbeing and positive outcomes for parents and families following paediatric critical injury there is a need to understand parent experiences and psychosocial support needs. This study explores parent experiences two years following their child's critical injury. MethodsThis multi-centre study used an interpretive qualitative design. Parent participants were recruited from four paediatric hospitals in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data were thematically analysed and managed using NVivo 11. ResultsTwenty-two parents participated. Three themes were identified through analysis: Recovering from child injury; Managing the emotional impact of child injury; Being resilient and finding ways to adapt. ConclusionsA long-term dedicated trauma family support role is required to ensure continuity of care, integration of support and early targeted intervention to prevent long-term adverse outcomes for critically injured children and their families. Early and ongoing psychosocial intervention would help strengthen parental adaptation and address families’ psychosocial support needs following child injury.

Highlights

To provide effective care and promote wellbeing and positive outcomes for parents and families following paediatric critical injury there is a need to understand parent experiences and psychosocial support needs
The majority (89.5%) of parents were born in Australia and less than half (42.1%) had completed a university degree (Table 1)
Three themes were identified through analysis: Recovering from child injury; Managing the emotional impact of injury; and Being resilient and finding ways to adapt

Summary

Introduction

To provide effective care and promote wellbeing and positive outcomes for parents and families following paediatric critical injury there is a need to understand parent experiences and psychosocial support needs. This study explores parent experiences two years following their child’s critical injury. Even when critically injured children survive their injuries, they often face long-term health consequences, such as physical disability and reduced health-related quality of life [6,7]. These sequelae of critical injury impact the child and their parents and other family members [8]

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Conclusion