Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
J Adv Nurs. 2011 Jan;67(1):169-75. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05482.x. Epub 2010 Oct 8.
This paper is a report of a study of the process of grandparent involvement with siblings of preschool children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
An increasing number of grandparents are involved in parental or near-parental roles with their grandchildren. Most research concerns grandparent involvement due to parental issues (e.g. teenage pregnancy, mental illness, addiction). Some research addresses grandparent involvement when their grandchild is ill. Grandparents''double concern' for both their adult children and their ill grandchildren is reported in the literature. In this paper, we describe a third concern for grandparents: the sibling(s) of their sick grandchild.
Individual interviews were conducted in 2007 with 15 grandparents of six preschool children with complex congenital heart disease. Open and selective coding, categorization, and theoretical memoing were used to analyse the data.
'Stepping in as needed' and 'safeguarding relationships' were identified as two core categories related to grandparenting siblings of children with heart disease. Grandparents stepped into a parent role with toddler and preschool-aged siblings by attending to their daily care routines, recreational and play times, and relational needs while parents were occupied with their sick and hospitalized infants. Grandparents' concerted efforts to sustain parent-child and child-sibling relationships were also striking.
Our findings extend the concept of 'double concern' to 'triple concern', and direct a research and practice focus towards the unexplored roles and needs of grandparents and siblings in families whose young children have life-threatening illnesses.
本文报告了一项研究，探讨了患有左心发育不全综合征的学龄前儿童的兄弟姐妹的祖辈参与过程。
越来越多的祖辈参与到父母或近乎父母的角色中，照顾他们的孙辈。大多数研究关注的是由于父母问题（例如，青少年怀孕、精神疾病、成瘾）导致的祖辈参与。一些研究涉及祖辈在其孙辈生病时的参与。文献中报道了祖辈对其成年子女及其患病孙辈的“双重关注”。在本文中，我们描述了祖辈的第三关注点：他们患病孙辈的兄弟姐妹。
2007 年，对 6 名患有复杂先天性心脏病的学龄前儿童的 15 位祖辈进行了个体访谈。采用开放式和选择性编码、分类和理论备忘录分析数据。
“按需介入”和“保护关系”被确定为与照顾心脏病患儿的兄弟姐妹相关的两个核心类别。祖辈在父母忙于照顾患病住院的婴儿时，会介入到幼儿和学龄前儿童兄弟姐妹的日常生活照顾、娱乐和游戏时间以及关系需求中，承担起父母的角色。祖辈们还努力维持亲子关系和兄弟姐妹关系，这一点也很引人注目。
我们的研究结果将“双重关注”的概念扩展到“三重关注”，并将研究和实践的重点指向了那些年幼子女患有危及生命疾病的家庭中，祖辈和兄弟姐妹的未被探索的角色和需求。
