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Published on: June 11, 2012
Understanding the parental journey: Exploring experiences, needs, and perceptions during hospitalization for children
Louise Norman Jespersen1, Kristine Zoega Mikkelsen1, Signe Emilie Frederiksen2
1Department of Prevention, Health Promotion & Community Care, Copenhagen University Hospital - Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Herlev, Denmark.
Insights
Parents of children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes need immediate reassurance and support during hospital education. Optimizing initial diabetes education can improve long-term self-management and family well-being.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Family Health
- Diabetes Self-Management Education
Background:
- Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in children requires rapid adoption of self-management skills by families.
- Initial hospital-based education is a critical period for establishing effective diabetes management habits.
- Established habits are resistant to change, highlighting the importance of early, quality support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore parents' experiences with diabetes education and support following a child's new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.
- To identify key challenges and needs of families during the initial hospitalization period.
- To inform healthcare professionals on optimizing support strategies for newly diagnosed pediatric diabetes patients.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with parents of children (aged 0-18) newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
- Utilized inductive thematic analysis to analyze qualitative interview data.
- Focused on understanding the parental perspective of the hospital-based education process.
Main Results:
- Identified four key themes: transition from uncertainty to security, the calming effect of certainty, achieving a balanced approach to diabetes, and the challenge of intensive learning within a week.
- Highlighted the critical need for immediate reassurance from healthcare professionals.
- Revealed that families seek a sense of security and effective coping strategies during the initial diagnosis phase.
Conclusions:
- Initial hospital education for pediatric type 1 diabetes presents unique challenges for families.
- Healthcare professionals should focus on providing reassurance and tailored support to address families' immediate needs.
- Improving early diabetes education can significantly impact long-term disease management and family adaptation.
Objective:
The onset of childhood diabetes necessitates that the child and family quickly must learn numerous self-management tasks. Diabetes education is key to successful self-management, and established diabetes-related habits are known to be difficult to change. Hence, the initial hospital-based diabetes education and support is a distinct opportunity to optimize habits and disease management. The aim of this study is to investigate parents' experiences with the education and support provided at the hospital when a child has been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Methods:
Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of children (0-18 years) newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Inductive thematic analysis was used for data analysis.
Results:
Four overarching themes, each with its own implications were identified: 1) From a feeling of uncertainty toward a sense of perceived security 2) Certainty induces calmness 3) A balanced approach to diabetes 4) Trying to learn all about diabetes in just one week. The four themes stress the families' need of immediate reassurance from the health professionals.
Conclusions And Practical Implications:
The study sheds light on families' challenges during initial hospital-based diabetes education, offering insights for healthcare professionals to tailor support strategies and improve diabetes management.
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