Situations of vulnerability experienced by family members during the hospitalization of chronically ill children

Abstract

Background: Vulnerability is classified as a triad consisting of individual, social and programmatic elements. Objective: To understand the situations of individual, social, and programmatic vulnerabilities experienced by family members during the hospitalization of their chronically ill children. Methodology: This is a qualitative research study using thematic analysis and conducted with ten family members of hospitalized chronically ill children. Data were collected between June and August 2018 through simple observation, semi-structured interviews, and a field diary. Results: This study identified family members’ caregiver burden as the individual vulnerability, family members’ accommodations as the social vulnerability, and the geographic distance between families’ homes and the hospital as the programmatic vulnerability. Health care services and health profession-als’ care delivery were identified as conditions minimizing vulnerabilities. Conclusion: Understanding the situations of vulnerability experienced by families allows implementing more inclusive and efficient care strategies to expand access to health services and professionals, respond to families’ needs, encourage family participation, and create support networks.