Abstract
Purpose: Drawing on data from a qualitative study of 8 adult women with CP, the purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine their perceptions of ways their families and individual family members contributed to their overall quality of life and adaptation to CP.
Methods: The study was based on a feminist biographical approach, which combines biographical methods with feminist principles. Participants participated in two interviews where they shared numerous stories about their family life, parents, siblings, and extended families. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and transcriptions were analyzed for common themes according to qualitative methodology.
Results: Participants provided considerable, rich contextual data on their family life. Four themes appeared related to supportive roles their family played in their life: 1) being an advocate, and teaching advocacy, 2) promoting inclusion and acceptance, 3) integrating therapy into daily life, and 4) being a friend and mentor. Participants with supportive families learned positive coping methods, developed self-determination, had a broad support system that assisted them face challenges associated with growing up and living with cerebral palsy, and reported a hope for the future not expressed by participants who described unsupportive families.
Conclusion: Nurses and health care providers can contribute to the family's ability to develop supportive roles by providing guidance on how to be advocates and teach advocacy, include the child with CP in family activities, access therapy and incorporate beneficial therapies at home, and promote healthy sibling relationships.
Sigma Membership
Iota Iota
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Cerebral Palsy, Families, Qualitative Research
Recommended Citation
Freeborn, Donna and Knafl, Kathleen, "The lifetime influence of families in the lives of women with cerebral palsy" (2012). INRC (Congress). 42.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2012/presentations_2012/42
Conference Name
23rd International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Brisbane, Australia
Conference Year
2012
Rights Holder
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Acquisition
Proxy-submission
The lifetime influence of families in the lives of women with cerebral palsy
Brisbane, Australia
Purpose: Drawing on data from a qualitative study of 8 adult women with CP, the purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine their perceptions of ways their families and individual family members contributed to their overall quality of life and adaptation to CP.
Methods: The study was based on a feminist biographical approach, which combines biographical methods with feminist principles. Participants participated in two interviews where they shared numerous stories about their family life, parents, siblings, and extended families. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and transcriptions were analyzed for common themes according to qualitative methodology.
Results: Participants provided considerable, rich contextual data on their family life. Four themes appeared related to supportive roles their family played in their life: 1) being an advocate, and teaching advocacy, 2) promoting inclusion and acceptance, 3) integrating therapy into daily life, and 4) being a friend and mentor. Participants with supportive families learned positive coping methods, developed self-determination, had a broad support system that assisted them face challenges associated with growing up and living with cerebral palsy, and reported a hope for the future not expressed by participants who described unsupportive families.
Conclusion: Nurses and health care providers can contribute to the family's ability to develop supportive roles by providing guidance on how to be advocates and teach advocacy, include the child with CP in family activities, access therapy and incorporate beneficial therapies at home, and promote healthy sibling relationships.