Family routines and rituals when a parent has cancer.

Abstract

A growing literature has drawn attention to the psychosocial impact of cancer on families with young children. However, to help families develop adaptive responses to chronic illness, recent scholarship has begun to advocate a shift in orientation from a deficit to a strengths perspective. In this article, the authors examine the reorganization of family life after cancer diagnosis by reporting findings from a qualitative study of families with young children (ages 2-9) dealing with a parent's cancer. The authors focus specifically on parents' self-reports of how their families developed and experienced new routines and rituals while one parent underwent cancer treatment. Despite significant upheaval in family life, the families in this study found ways to stabilize routines and maintain a sense of normalcy. Although cancer compels disruptions to existing routines and rituals, families demonstrated creative resilience in their capacity to incorporate cancer care into the formation of new family traditions, habits, and practices. By considering how families manage cancer as a joint endeavor, the authors hope to illuminate the ways in which cancer can bring families together as well as pull them apart.

The well-being of children impacted by a parent with cancer: an integrative review

“…Parent's demonstration of coping behaviors was important in fostering children's coping [57]. Parent's coping strategies included open communication [51,57], maintaining the physical body [51], showing awareness, normalization of behavior and environment, and including the child in treatment (e.g., doctors visits) [37,57]. Although availability and spending quality time was important in parent-child coping, many parents struggled to balance spending time with their children and distancing themselves to best cope [51].…”

The family experience of care in chronic situation

“…Still regarding studies carried out from that perspective, we support authors (6) who have spoken about the importance of considering families as a whole when rearranging their organization, which results in new routines and responses in view of chronic conditions; this movement and its consequences fall upon all family members.…”

Depressivität bei 11- bis 17-jährigen Kindern krebskranker Eltern im Verlauf und Abhängigkeit zur elterlichen Belastung

“…Der Einfluss einer Krebserkrankung auf die Kinder der Patienten wird in der Literatur nur vereinzelt beleuchtet. Kinder mit einem krebskranken Elternteil zeigen vermehrt ängstlich-depressive Symptome (Gazendam-Donofrio et al, 2008;John, Becker, Mattejat, 2010;Osborn, 2007;Schmitt et al, 2008) und ein erhöhtes Risiko für Entwicklungsverzö-gerungen (Buchbinder, Longhofer, McCue, 2009;Möller, Stegemann, Romer, 2008 (Romer u. Haagen, 2007;Visser, Huizinga, Hoekstra, van der Graaf, Hoekstra-Weebers, 2007). Im Vergleich zu gleichaltrigen Mäd-chen sind Jungen in der Altersspanne von 4 bis 11 Jahren ebenso symptomauffällig, bei den 12-bis 18-jährigen Jungen ist die Prävalenz deutlich geringer (Visser et al, 2005).…”