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Parental Experiences of the Pediatric Day Surgery Pathway and the Needs for a Digital Gaming Solution: Qualitative
Arja Rantala1, Miia M Jansson2, Otto Helve3
1Research Group of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, Research Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Insights
Parents desire enhanced guidance and support during their child's day surgery. A digital gaming solution shows promise for improving communication and engaging children in their care pathway.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric surgery
- Healthcare digitalization
- Family-centered care
Background:
- Parental dissatisfaction is common regarding pediatric day surgery, citing issues with waiting times, fasting, discharge, pain relief, and guidance.
- Parental experiences are crucial for developing effective, family-centered care models throughout the day surgery process.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe parental experiences within the pediatric day surgery pathway.
- To identify needs for a digital gaming solution to support pathway digitalization.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive qualitative study involving 31 parents of children undergoing day surgery or MRI.
- Data collected via unstructured, open-ended questionnaires.
- Inductive content analysis used for data interpretation, adhering to COREQ guidelines.
Main Results:
- Parental experiences highlighted needs for guidance, support, and child involvement in their care pathway.
- A digital gaming solution was identified as a need to prepare and support children and families.
- Key features for the digital solution include preparation, gamification, and enhanced connectivity.
Conclusions:
- Parents require improved guidance and support for pediatric day surgery care.
- Digital gaming solutions offer a potential avenue for enhanced communication and information dissemination.
- Families are receptive to digital gaming solutions that provide support, guidance, and child engagement.
Background:
The parents of hospitalized children are often dissatisfied with waiting times, fasting, discharge criteria, postoperative pain relief, and postoperative guidance. Parents' experiences help care providers to provide effective, family-centered care that responds to parents' needs throughout the day surgery pathway.
Objective:
The objective of our study was to describe parental experiences of the pediatric day surgery pathway and the needs for a digital gaming solution in order to facilitate the digitalization of these pathways.
Methods:
This was a descriptive qualitative study. The participants (N=31) were parents whose children were admitted to the hospital for the day surgical treatments or magnetic resonance imaging. The data were collected through an unstructured, open-ended questionnaire; an inductive content analysis was conducted to analyze the qualitative data. Reporting of the study findings adheres to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist.
Results:
Parental experiences of the children's day surgery pathway included 3 main categories: (1) needs for parental guidance, (2) needs for support, and (3) child involved in his or her own pathway (eg, consideration of an individual child and preparation of child for treatment). The needs for a digital gaming solution were identified as 1 main category-the digital gaming solution for children and families to support care. This main category included 3 upper categories: (1) preparing children and families for the day surgery via the solution, (2) gamification in the solution, and (3) connecting people through the solution.
Conclusions:
Parents need guidance and support for their children's day surgery care pathways. A digital gaming solution may be a relevant tool to support communication and to provide information on day surgeries. Families are ready for and are open to digital gaming solutions that provide support and guidance and engage children in the day surgery pathways.
