Everyday life with childhood functional constipation: A qualitative phenomenological study of parents' experiences.

Childhood functional constipation (FC) is a worldwide problem with treatment regiments affecting everyday life. AIM: To explore parents´ experiences of living with a child with FC and its impact on everyday family life. METHOD: A qualitative phenomenological interview study using a reflective lifeworld research approach. Interviews with 15 parents of otherwise healthy children aged 1-14 years affected by FC. FINDINGS: Shame is the driving force making parents put everyday life on hold. The quest for control, self-imposed loneliness, guilt, inadequacy, and frustrating battles become essential parts of everyday life to protect it from FC-related shame. CONCLUSION: FC has as great an impact on everyday life as any childhood illness. Every part of family life is affected by FC. Continuously family support and guidance are needed. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare professionals need to take FC more seriously, listen to the parents and try to understand their experiences of everyday life to enable custom made care plans with the family-unit in focus. Care with clinical sensitivity might help parents deal with the attendant shame and stigmatization that stem from illness beliefs about FC.

Experiences of parents who give pharmacological treatment to children with functional constipation at home.

AIM: The aim was to explore the lived experiences of parents who give oral and rectal pharmacological treatment to their children with functional constipation at home. DESIGN: A phenomenological design with a reflective lifeworld research approach that describes phenomena as they are experienced by individuals. METHODS: From January-May 2019, 15 interviews were conducted with parents of children with functional constipation with home-based oral and rectal treatment. Parents were recruited from three different healthcare levels. Open-ended questions were used starting from the description of a normal day with constipation treatment. Analyses were made with an open and reflective 'bridling' attitude. FINDINGS: Constipation treatment causes parents to question their parental identity and what it means to be a good parent. Forced treatment makes them feel abusive and acting against their will as parents. There is a conflict between doubt and second thoughts about the treatment, the urge to treat based on the child's needs and encouragement from healthcare professionals to give treatment. CONCLUSION: As pharmacological constipation treatment can be experienced as challenging, it is important to help parents make an informed decision about how such treatment should be carried out at home. The findings reveal a medical treatment situation where parents hesitate and children resist, resulting in insecure parents who question their parental identity. IMPACT: The findings point to the importance of supporting parents in treatment situations. Healthcare providers need to treat children with constipation with greater focus and more prompt management to prevent these families from lingering longer than necessary in the healthcare system.