Therapeutic letters: A qualitative study exploring their influence on the hope of parents of children receiving pediatric palliative care in Portugal
children; hospital; nursing; pediatric palliative care; hope; qualitative research; therapeutic letters
PURPOSE: The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the hope experiences of parents of children diagnosed with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) who received therapeutic letters. DESIGN AND METHODS: A purposive sample of 10 parents of inpatient children with CCCs was recruited from a pediatric palliative care unit in a Portuguese public hospital. A demographic form and audio-recorded semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with each participant to explore the experiences, processes, and meanings of hope, and to describe how parents of children receiving pediatric palliative care perceived the usefulness of receiving therapeutic letters. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and using a thematic analysis, a systematic approach to data analysis was completed. FINDINGS: Data analysis resulted in three main themes including Trust in the Future; Strengthening Hope; and Moments of Hope. Findings highlight the positive influence of therapeutic letters including supporting parental hope, facilitating personal inner-strengthening, recognition of parental skills, and promotion of self-efficacy during hospitalization. The themes and related subthemes add value to the existing literature and highlight the need for supportive palliative nursing care aimed at promoting parental hope. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: To optimize the value of supporting parental hope, therapeutic letters can be delivered at the time of diagnosis, during times of celebration, and when learning the difficult tasks of daily childcare. Additional research can inform the development of a formal hope-based intervention to provide an evidence base from which to enhance the well-being of parental caregivers of children who have CCCs.
Fonseca R; Carvalho M; Querido A; Figueiredo MH; Bally J; Charepe Z
Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing
2021
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12325" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1111/jspn.12325</a>
Parents' hope in perinatal and neonatal palliative care: a scoping review
Parents; Human; Funding Source; Psychosocial Factors; Coping; Critical Illness; Palliative Care; Parental Attitudes; Uncertainty; Autonomy; CINAHL Database; Hope; Intensive Care Neonatal; Interpersonal Relations; Medline; Parenthood; Perinatal Care; Perinatal Period; Psycinfo; Scoping Review
Background: The diagnosis of a life-limiting condition of a child in the perinatal or neonatal period is a threat to parental hopes. Hope is an interactional and multidimensional construct, and in palliative care, it is a determinant of quality of life, survival, acceptance and peaceful death. Objective: To map scientific evidence on parents' hope in perinatal and neonatal palliative care contexts. Method: a scoping review theoretically grounded on Dufault and Martocchio's Framework, following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological recommendations. Searches were performed until May 2023 in the MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases. The searches returned 1341 studies. Results: Eligible papers included 27 studies, most of which were carried out in the United States under a phenomenological or literature review approach. The centrality of women's perspectives in the context of pregnancy and perinatal palliative care was identified. The parental hope experience is articulated in dealing with the uncertainty of information and diagnosis, an approach to which interaction with health professionals is a determinant and potentially distressful element. Hope was identified as one of the determinants of coping and, consequently, linked to autonomy and parenthood. Cognitive and affiliative dimensions were the hope dimensions that predominated in the results, which corresponded to the parents' ability to formulate realistic goals and meaningful interpersonal relationships, respectively. Conclusion: Hope is a force capable of guiding parents along the path of uncertainties experienced through the diagnosis of a condition that compromises their child's life. Health professionals can manage the family's hope by establishing sensitive therapeutic relationships that focus on the dimension of hope. The need for advanced research and intervention in parental and family hope are some of the points made in this study.
Silveira AO; Wernet M; Franco LF; Dias PLM; Charepe Z
BMC Palliative Care
2023
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01324-z%5C">10.1186/s12904-023-01324-z\</a>"