O'Neill Carla, O'Neill Catherine S, Semple Cherith
Lecturer/Assistant Professor of Nursing, University College Dublin School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, Dublin, Ireland.
Board Member, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland , Dublin, Ireland.
Compr Child Adolesc Nurs. 2020 Jun;43(2):111-127. doi: 10.1080/24694193.2019.1582727. Epub 2019 Mar 15.
Research has evidenced a marked increase in the prevalence of cancer among younger people with up to one in five, parenting children under the age of 18 years of age. When a parent is diagnosed with cancer they experience fears and anxieties as they attempt to simultaneously manage their role as a parent, with the illness experience. Parents have expressed difficulties in knowing how to communicate appropriately with their children throughout the illness trajectory as they are primarily focused on protecting or shielding their children from knowledge of the illness. Understandably parents may become overwhelmed with significant parental stress impacting on their psychological well-being. This subsequently affects the well-being of the entire family unit, coupled with changes to routines, roles, and responsibilities. This study was carried out to examine how a group psychosocial intervention Children's Lives Include Moments of Bravery (CLIMB®) helped young children to navigate parental cancer. A qualitative research design utilizing focus group methodology, artwork and individual interviews was used to generate data from 19 participants (parents, children, and health-care professionals). Three key themes emerged from the data, navigating the diagnosis, navigating emotions and changed routines, creating spaces to talk about cancer. The findings evidenced that attending CLIMB® was a positive experience for both children and parents. It gave the children the language and opportunity to express their fears and worries. CLIMB® equipped them with tools and skills to both express and manage their negative emotions, life skills that could be transferred to other challenging life events. All techniques that created spaces to talk and appeared to have a reassuring effect on the children. The parents appreciated the professional support that the structured intervention offered to them and helped them communicate more openly with their children. Creating spaces to talk about cancer reduces mistrust and tension between parents and children, when parental cancer occurs, and hopefully minimizes future psychological and social problems.
研究表明，在18岁以下育有子女的年轻人中，癌症患病率显著上升，高达五分之一。当父母被诊断出患有癌症时，他们在试图同时履行父母角色和应对疾病经历的过程中会感到恐惧和焦虑。父母们表示，在整个疾病过程中，他们不知道如何与孩子进行恰当沟通，因为他们主要专注于保护孩子，不让他们知晓疾病情况。可以理解的是，父母可能会因巨大的育儿压力而不堪重负，这会影响他们的心理健康。这随后会影响整个家庭的幸福，同时还会导致日常生活、角色和责任的变化。本研究旨在探讨一种团体心理社会干预措施——“儿童生活包括勇敢时刻”（CLIMB®）如何帮助幼儿应对父母患癌的情况。采用了焦点小组方法、艺术作品和个人访谈的定性研究设计，以收集19名参与者（父母、孩子和医疗保健专业人员）的数据。数据中出现了三个关键主题：应对诊断、应对情绪和日常生活的改变、创造谈论癌症的空间。研究结果表明，参加CLIMB®对孩子和父母来说都是一次积极的经历。它让孩子们有了表达恐惧和担忧的语言和机会。CLIMB®为他们提供了表达和管理负面情绪的工具和技能，这些生活技能可以迁移到其他具有挑战性的生活事件中。所有这些创造谈话空间的技巧似乎都让孩子们感到安心。父母们赞赏这种结构化干预为他们提供的专业支持，并帮助他们更开放地与孩子沟通。当父母患癌时，创造谈论癌症的空间可以减少父母与孩子之间的不信任和紧张关系，并有望将未来的心理和社会问题降至最低。
