Facing the odds ... but not alone : the importance of informal support to parents of children suffering from cancer

Abstract

The overall objective of the research was to obtain information on the parents' perception of their needs in the period when their child was suffering from childhood cancer. The ordeal that the parents have to face during such times is considered as the most traumatic experience that a family can go through and that thus it should not be faced alone. Childhood cancer does not only effect the child, but also his/her parents and healthy siblings. It is not a disease which effects only the child but it has negative effects on all the family. The aims of this study are to explore the family's needs and the parents' perception of these needs. The study also wants to try to discover what type of support the parents cherish most and whether or not the parents feel that the informal support network is meeting their needs. The needs were explored through interviews with the parents of two families and the main method used was the narrative approach. The themes emerging from the interviews were that parents sought most help with regards to emotional support, marital and familial issues, personal health and well being, religion, faith, spirituality and God, and having a positive attitude balanced with a realistic outlook. The findings suggest that although the parents received a lot of support from their informal support network, they still felt that it still left a lot to be desired. But still the parents themselves admit that without the help they had received from other natural carers it would have been much more difficult for the whole family to cope. The implications for practice are that the social worker must help the parents and family develop and make better use of its informal support network. The social worker must organise a social network where it does not exist yet; must advocate for the child and family by encouraging other persons to intervene in the family's life; and must mediate between the family and the informal support network so that the needs of no one are left unattended. The main aim of the modem health social worker is to help the family members to broaden the understanding of their situation and to find constructive solutions to the . problems that develop during and after the illness of the child. The informal support network can make a drastic difference in the family's ability to cope in this situation.