Mothers' Support Preferences With Their Chronically Ill Child's Health Care Team

Abstract

Children living with medical complexities are a growing population in the United States. Supportive pediatric health care team members are arguably the single most important factor in helping mothers manage their child's multifaceted condition. To better understand what constitutes helpful support from health care team members, we interviewed 17 mothers affiliated with a pediatric palliative care program at a large Midwestern U.S. hospital. Using Charmaz's approach to grounded theory analysis, we found that mothers desired a collaborative partnership with their child's health care team. However, the development of this partnership was contingent upon team members' effective use of informational, emotional, and network support. We identified two specific strategies that qualified each of these three different types of helpful supportive communication. These strategies may be implemented into training and educational programs for health care professionals to improve their communication skills.

Keywords: Chronic illness; Health communication; Pediatric nursing; Pediatric palliative care; Social support.