A meta-ethnography of parents’ experiences of their children’s life-limiting conditions

ABSTRACT

As many children’s life-limiting illnesses (LLCs) are now often viewed as curable, there is an inevitable tension between providing good treatment and addressing patients and their families’ needs. For health care providers to provide optimal care, they must understand parents’ experiences of illness. Therefore, this article provides a meta-ethnography of parents’ experiences of their children’s LLCs by examining the findings of existing interpretative phenomenological analysis studies. Seventeen studies were included, which allowed the development of a conceptual model. Two multifaceted concepts emerged from the data, namely living in a bounded and polarised space and living in a collapsed time, and these are discussed with reference to their subconcepts. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• IPA
• meta-ethnography
• life-limiting
• parent experience
• children
• health care

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the useful comments made to the abstracts screening and quality appraisal by Dr. Magdalena Marczak. The author would also like to thank both anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gianina-Ioana Postavaru

Gianina-Ioana Postavaru, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, is a Lecturer in Psychology at Bishop Grosseteste University. Her main research interests focus on children and adults with life-limiting/threatening conditions. Her projects have been funded by the European Social Fund, BG Foundation Fund, and, more recently, British Psychological Society and supported by charities and medical institutions abroad.