Chronic Illness

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Barton, C.
Right arrow Articles by Abramson, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Chronic Illness, Vol. 1, No. 4, 303-314 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/17423953050010041201
© 2005 SAGE Publications

Experiences of Australian parents caring for children with asthma: it gets easier

Christopher Barton

Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Central & Eastern Clinical School, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia, christopher.barton{at}adelaide.edu.au

Nabil Sulaiman

Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, 200 Berkely Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia

David Clarke

Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash Medical Centre, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Michael Abramson

Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Central & Eastern Clinical School, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia

Objective: To describe the experiences of Australian parents caring for children with asthma.

Methods: A combination of random sampling, purposeful sampling and quota sampling was used to select care-givers from general practices in Melbourne's north and north-western suburbs. Data collection involved a single semi-structured in-depth interview with 21 parents caring for a child with asthma. Thematic analysis was aided by QSR NVivo.

Results: Children experienced predominantly mild-to-moderate, episodic asthma. Six themes emerged from the interviews: emotions and behaviours, coping strategies, disruption to activities, health and treatment beliefs, problems with asthma management, and relationships with doctors. Parents' experiences and health beliefs impacted on their management of asthma. These may act as barriers to optimal asthma care in some families. The overriding theme to emerge was `it gets easier'. It got easier with time because the children could communicate more effectively, and were better able to take care of themselves, and their asthma became less severe or less of a problem.

Discussion: This research has highlighted the need for health professionals to emphasize the chronic nature of asthma, but negotiate strategies with care-givers to optimize the use of asthma medications, with consideration being given to care-givers' fears, frustrations and health beliefs.

Key Words: Asthma • Attitude to health • Care-givers • Coping behaviour • Health behaviours


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?