Parents’ Communication Work in the Management of Food Allergies

Abstract

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM, 2017) has identified food allergies as a critical public health issue that significantly affects quality of life for patients and their families. Despite the crisis-level status of food allergies, especially in children, there are currently no curative treatments. As a result, impacted families must learn how to carry the burden of disease management. Using an expanded application of the concept of communication work (Donovan-Kicken et al., 2012), this study features data from interviews with 26 parents of food allergic children and explores how parents navigate the nuances of food allergy maintenance while negotiating and preserving valued relationships and identities through everyday talk. Results revealed that parents used communication to legitimate food allergy, balance potential face-threats with identity and relational goals, and coordinate care with spouses. Due to the lack of therapeutic treatment options, we found that parents utilize communication work, which is both demanding and effortful, as a form of disease management.

The labor of talking to stay healthy and socially connected: Communication work during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…If parents did not communicate well, their children's lives could be at risk (cf. Bute et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Cancer survivors exert effort to maintain a sense of personal control and promote preferred identities in workplace settings ( Robinson, Kocum, Loughlin, Bryson, & Dimoff, 2015 ). Parents of children with food allergies, desperate to keep their children safe, describe over and over the seriousness of their children's allergies to people who are skeptical of them ( Bute, Bowers, & Park, 2021 ). Members of online support communities collaborate to translate medical research findings to share with fellow community members ( Walsh and Al Achkar, 2021 ).…”