Transition experience of parents caring of children with epilepsy: A phenomenological study

Abstract Background Families who have a child with epilepsy show a significant impact on both the dynamics of the childʹs development and family systems in a social context. Knowledge of a familyʹs lived experience in dealing with the early stages of their childʹs illness will provide a deeper understanding of their life and coping process. Most studies have focused on the childʹs developmental issues, parental attitudes, coping strategies and the childʹs adjustment. In order to assist families to cope with the early stage of having a child with epilepsy, nurses need to understand the nature of a familyʹs lived experience. Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the essence of the family health–illness transition experience from the parental perspective when a child is afflicted with epilepsy. Design Colaizziʹs phenomenological approach was used. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten couples with regard to the first one and a half years after the diagnosis of epilepsy. Settings and participants Ten couples from two medical centers in Taiwan participated in the study. The age range of the children at diagnosis was 0.2–4.3 years. Methods Open attitude and imaginative variation techniques were used to investigate the meanings of the experience. This study used Colaizziʹs method with both destructured and restructured analysis. Lincoln and Gubaʹs trustworthiness criteria were employed to evaluate methodological rigor. Results Three concepts emerged: parents’ psychological reactions, parental coping patterns and family resources. The parents’ psychological reaction was that of being emotionally traumatized and physically exhausted. Parental coping patterns were vigilant parenting and aimed at reframing roles, facing the social challenge and assisting the childʹs social re-integration. The nature of family resources was family resiliency. The findings provide a scientific knowledge base for nurses when assisting parents and children during the health to illness transitional phase following a diagnosis of epilepsy.