Information needs, as perceived by parents, regarding symptom management of their adolescent following a kidney transplant

• Main Author: Bergman, Judy Holcomb
• Other Authors: May, Kathleen M.
• Language: en_US
• Published: The University of Arizona. 1995
• Subjects: Patient Education.; Caregivers > education.; Kidney Transplantation.; Adolescent.; Patient Participation.; Self Care.; Parents.; Chronic Disease.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/627128; http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/627128

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceived information needs of parents and the processes they used to obtain information to manage the care of their child or adolescent following a kidney transplant. The sample consisted of three mothers who were the primary caregivers of their adolescent who had undergone a kidney transplant within the last year. Descriptions of parents' perceived information deficits and the processes used to manage their adolescents' care were generated from the data using a grounded theory approach. Sharing the Challenge was identified as the emerging core category. Sharing the Challenge represented the processes by which mothers, transplant recipients, and the health care team supported their shared goal of optimizing the health status of the transplant recipient. The descriptions of Sharing the Challenge and the related supporting subcategories provide a framework for understanding the processes by which mothers and transplant recipients fulfill caregiving responsibilities following a kidney transplant.