The study of children’s inner experience on facing a parent with cancer ~ take four children in their third to sixth year in elementary school as an example

• Main Authors: Yen-Liang Chen, 陳彥良
• Other Authors: Yu-Chan Li
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/68418506475796055532

碩士 === 國立台北護理學院 === 生死教育與輔導研究所 === 98 === The purpose of this thesis is to explore and examine children’s concepts, emotional reaction, coping behaviors and their inner experiences while their parents are afflicted to cancer. Objects of this research are four children in their third to sixth year in elementary school. Based on the point of qualitative research and the philosophical thinking of hermeneutische Phanomenologie, and using the way of thematic analysis to analyze the interview data, some essential renditions are as followed: 1. Children’s gender, temperament, and reaction toward the authority seem to affect how much they would like to express their emotion toward their parents’ physical condition and how much support they want to get from others. 2. During the interview, the four children are encouraged to reveal inner experiences, which they seldom have the opportunity to do so. 3. Four children’s inner experience of facing a parent with cancer A. Their thoughts toward a parent with cancer: a. Parents’ medical treatments and types of cancer influence children’s concept toward the disease. b. Parent’s health belief decides whether children would be informed the situation and how they perceive it. c. Children can be aware of parents’ health condition even they are not told about it. In this sense, “Whether parents inform kids of their condition” and “ How children become aware of the situation” are unrelated. d. Through being properly noticed, children could lower the level of anxiety and be able to deal with their parent’s disease situation healthily. B. Children’s concepts, emotional reaction, coping behaviors and their inner experiences while their parents are afflicted to cancer. a. The children share similarities in emotional reaction, thoughts, and coping behaviors such as getting frightened, feeling depressed, shifting attention , releasing emotion, and considering cancer threatening. VI b. Children’s level of grief reaction changes based on the types of disease, the stages of disease and the treatment of disease. c. Children’s anticipatory grief is reflected on associating cancer with death. Two children show their reluctance to mention death under the fear that their parents would pass away by merely bringing up the word. C. Children’s coping behavior and attitude toward a parent with cancer a. Instead of feeling worried along, children find ways to cope with the impact which their parent’s cancer bring it. b. Children’s belief in being healthy and recovered will result in their positive action. D. Children’s family/ school system affect how children treat a parent with cancer: a. How parents decide to inform their children about their health condition decides whether children will have the opportunity to express their emotion and reduce anxiety level. b. The way that children face to parents’ cancer is probably learning and coping from their parents. c. The parents-children relationship and family background seem to affect children not only on understanding and discussing their parent’s cancer, but also on the process of coping way that they are alone or they keep company with parents. d.School teachers’ concern and friends’ company help children to face warmly the impact which their parent’s cancer bring it. According to the result in the research, the researcher provides some suggestions to medical helpers, school teachers and parents to get more understanding of the children that their parents are afflicted to cancer.