| Summary: | This qualitative study is a secondary analysis of an existing data set generated from a descriptive
study of parents of children with epilepsy. The conceptual framework that provided a basis for
this study was the Canam Adaptive Task Framework (ATF) and the purpose of this study was to
apply the ATF to transcribed narrative data from a sample of parents to determine if the adaptive
tasks effectively represented their experiences. The ATF is based on the premise that there is a
series of eight adaptive tasks common to parents of children with chronic conditions, regardless
of the child's specific medical condition. The ATF is an organizing structure that guides the
nurse in not only identifying the common issues, but in determining the knowledge, skills, and
resources required for the parent to cope. By determining the representativeness of the ATF with
this condition-specific data set, the credibility of the ATF with parents of children with chronic
conditions may be increased. In the current study, 12 families were randomly selected from the
original, convenience sample of 20 families from the Seizure Clinic at BC's Children's Hospital.
Data were analyzed using latent content analysis (Morse & Field, 1995) according to the
appropriate adaptive task categories. Through the study, the author's findings demonstrate that
the ATF provides the nurse with credible and practical direction to collaborate with parents in
identifying the knowledge, skills, and resources needed by parents to cope effectively with their
child's condition. More specifically, these parents had difficulty accessing adequate, useful
information about their child's condition, developing effective working relationships with health
care professionals, communicating with their children's teachers, and promoting normalization in
their families' lives. A major conclusion indicates that by being representative of these parents'
experiences, the ATF is considered to be effective in identifying the difficulties and strengths of
parents of children with epilepsy and in facilitating the acquisition of their coping strategies.
Implications for nursing practice, education, and research are presented.
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