A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experiences of Mothers Caring for Their Children with Thalassemia in Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mothers of children with thalassemia usually experience many sufferings and challenges in caring of their children. The present study aimed to explore the experiences of mothers caring for their children with thalassemia.METHODS: In this qualitative study, 14 mothers caring for their children with thalassemia in Hamedan and Babol Cities, Iran were selected using purposeful sampling, from December 2019 to August 2020. Data were collected through semi-structured faceto- face interviews. Graneheim and Lundman's approach of conventional content analysis was used for data analysis.RESULTS: After data analyzing, four themes, including physical distress, psychological suffering, hellish life, and self-negligence, as well as nine categories, including the mother's physical problems, physical weakness, confusion, painful emotions, restless life, involvement in a painful caring process, turmoil in the family, neglect of one's health, and disregard for the occurrence of psychosomatic illnesses, were extracted.CONCLUSION: Our findings provide a broad range of contextspecific challenges that mothers of thalassemic child faced during caring of their children that can affect different aspects of their life and health. Thus, mothers of children with thalassemia need various types of support such as social, emotional, and informational support during caring process of their children.