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Living with a young person who wets the bed: the families' experience
1School of Social and Health Sciences, University of Abertay, Dundee.
Insights
Bed-wetting significantly impacts children and families, often leading to isolation. Current management strategies are largely ineffective, highlighting the need for improved healthcare support and a family-centered approach.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Child Health
- Family Studies
Background:
- Bed-wetting (nocturnal enuresis) is a common childhood condition impacting quality of life.
- It affects daily activities, social engagement, and family dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the lived experiences of families dealing with childhood bed-wetting.
- To understand the practical and social consequences of the condition.
- To identify the effectiveness of current coping strategies and the need for improved support.
Main Methods:
- An ethnographic study was conducted.
- Family members shared their experiences and management methods for childhood bed-wetting.
Main Results:
- Bed-wetting causes significant practical and social challenges for children and their families.
- Most self-employed methods to stop bed-wetting have low success rates.
- Families often feel isolated and unsupported by healthcare professionals.
Conclusions:
- There is an urgent need for a new professional approach to support families affected by bed-wetting.
- Implementing 'family nursing' principles can enhance care and reduce feelings of helplessness.
Abstract:
After allergic disorders, bed-wetting is the most common chronic condition of childhood. It can seriously diminish the quality of life of young people and their families, having an impact on day-to-day activities, family holidays and the young person's willingness and ability to stay away from home with friends and wider family. In this ethnographic study, family members describe the practical and social consequences of bed-wetting, both for themselves and for the family, and the methods that they have employed to encourage the bed-wetting to stop. Most of these methods have little chance of success. Many families' feelings of helplessness and isolation are reinforced by lack of help from healthcare professionals, although the professional's intention to be helpful is rarely questioned. The nature of the families' experiences illustrates the urgent need for adopting a new professional approach to the support of these families, which is based on the principles of 'family nursing'.