Heather L MacDonald
University of New Brunswick, Canada
Title: Fair play: Respite for parents caring for children requiring complex home care
Biography
Biography: Heather L MacDonald
Abstract
Advances in nursing and medical care augmented by developments in pharmaceutical and health technologies have led to an increasing number of children who require complex care at home. Parents are their care-givers. In this ethnographic study there were 47 participants out of whom 19 were mothers, 4 fathers, 7 grand-parents, 13 nurses and 4 Social Workers. Data Collection consisted of in-depth interviews; participant observation and document review. There were five emergent themes: Parents Caring; Caring and the Impact on Parental Identity; The Nature of Respite and Fair Play. In this paper the key categories within the theme Fair Play will be discussed. These categories include: Care obligations, feelings of entitlement, respite information needs, ongoing support needs, negotiating the system and equity.