Heather MacDonald
University of New Brunswick, USA
Title: FAIR Play: Respite for Parents Caring for Children Requiring Complex Home Care
Biography
Biography: Heather 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 carer givers.rnrnIn this ethnographic study there were: rnrn47 Participantsrn19 Mothersrn4 Fathersrn7 Grandparentsrn13 Nursesrn4 Social WorkersrnrnrnData 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:rnrnrn care obligationsrn feelings of entitlementrn respite information needsrn ongoing support needsrn negotiating the system and equityrn