Shaping confidence to advocate for my child: The meaning of how 'significant others' can support parents to make decisions when their child has cancer

Being told that a child has cancer is devastating for the whole family. As parents process this life-changing diagnosis they enter a world where they are faced with making many complex decisions including treatment and social decisions (such as school attendance and shielding). Whilst previous research has focused on how health care professionals may support parental decision-making, attention has not been given to how parents may turn to their social support networks for help. This hermeneutic phenomenological study therefore explores what it means for parents to be supported by their ‘significant others’ with decision-making, and how this enhances our understanding of parents’ experiences at an incredibly difficult time. During interviews, parents of children with cancer co-created ecomaps of their social support network and identified decisions that they had made. This prompted in-depth conversations about their experiences of being supported in decision-making by this network. The findings of this study illuminate a loss of confidence that parents may experience when their child is diagnosed with cancer, and the critical role that ‘significant others’ may play in shaping parents’ confidence. Looking at parents’ stories through a philosophical lens promotes understanding that parents may need support to maintain and renew their identity as decision-makers, assert and release control of decision-making, and trust and challenge themselves and others in decision-making. Rather than depending on others to take over and make decisions on their behalf, parents feel supported when others offer ‘solicitude’ by empowering them to confidently advocate and make decisions for their own child. Having a greater understanding of this is of critical importance, both for health care professionals who can help parents navigate social support, and for the general public who can learn to become attuned to the support needs of parents as they confront challenging decision-making.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Jestico, Elizabeth Caroline Louise

Contributors dc:contributor

• Finlay, Teresa
• Schutz, Sue

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/xhj7-y804

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:7b78bac4-fcb1-4007-bf35-9cd267bc8156:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1