"Her Life Rests on Your Shoulders": Doing Worry as Emotion Work in the Care of Children With Diabetes

Sharing a written medical summary with patients on the post-admission ward round: A qualitative study of clinician and patient experience

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Sharing aspects of the traditional medical record with patients has been successful in primary and antenatal care, but has not been investigated in the UK inpatient setting. Our aim was to evaluate the impact on patient and clinician experience of providing patients with a written lay summary of their care-plan in the acute care setting.

METHOD

We carried out a qualitative interview study on two acute medicine wards in an NHS University Teaching Hospital for a 4-week period in 2019. A summary record, designed in response to suggestions from doctors and patients from a previous study, was distributed to patients on the first ward round after admission. Eligible participants included all doctors and nurses working on and all patients and their families attending the acute medical units; patients were excluded if they lacked capacity to consent or were under 18. We interviewed 20 patients, 10 relatives, 10 doctors and 7 nurses.

RESULTS

Patients felt that the summary improved their ability to remember details about their care so they could more accurately and easily update their relatives. They did not feel that the summary induced anxiety. Patient-doctor communication was improved: patients felt empowered to ask more questions and doctors felt that it solidified their plan and encouraged them to avoid medical jargon. Most patients felt the summary included the 'right' amount of information. Healthcare professionals were more concerned about the risk of breaching confidentiality than patients. Doctors felt that providing summaries was time-consuming; there were differing opinions about whether this was a worthwhile investment of time. Clinicians recognized that the traditional medical record has many roles.

CONCLUSIONS

A summary record could empower patients and improve patient-doctor communication but would require additional clinician and administrative time.

Listening to the experts: Parents' perspectives around infection risk and returning to education and social activities following their child's diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background

During a child's prolonged treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), there is a need to balance their increased risk of developing infection‐related complications with meeting their educational and social needs.

Aims

To determine the safe timing of return to social activities for children undergoing treatment for ALL and to determine how parents perceive and act on advice related to infection risk while navigating their child's “return to normal.”

Methods and results

Medical and educational attendance records were reviewed for 47 children who were diagnosed with ALL and 24 semi‐structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a representative sample of their parents. The majority of children (69%) did not return to education prior to the start of maintenance therapy regardless of the advice that the families received from their healthcare team. Those who returned earlier were at no greater risk of major infection complications (mean = 0.5) than those who did not return until after commencing maintenance (mean = 0.4, P = .74). Parents spoke of the difficulty in obtaining practical, consistent, and timely advice and of balancing infection risk with a desire to return to normalcy. Inconsistent advice and constant vigilance placed a burden on parents which often profoundly affected their mental wellbeing. Overall, parents wanted to make their own decisions about how and when their child returned to education and social activities. They made these decisions based on many factors, of which infection risk was just one.

Conclusion

Following the study conclusion, a national working group was established—including parent representatives—to implement the study recommendations. This includes the development of a range of practical resources to better support families. Health professional guidelines provide quantitative data pertaining to infection risk, while emphasizing that the returning decisions ultimately rest with the families. This research demonstrates that listening to parents—who are the experts through their lived experiences—is a critical element in creating policies that are responsive, meaningful, and widely accepted.

Parents' experiences of caring for a young child with type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative evidence

AIMS

To synthesise the qualitative evidence on parents' experiences of caring for a child aged ≤8 years with type 1 diabetes to identify: the challenges they encounter; their views about support received; ways in which support could be improved; and, directions for future research.

METHODS

We searched Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science databases to identify qualitative studies reporting parents' views and experiences of caring for a child with type 1 diabetes aged ≤8 years. Key analytical themes were identified using thematic synthesis.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies were included. The synthesis resulted in the generation of two overarching themes. Monopolisation of life describes the all-encompassing impact diabetes could have on parents due to the constant worry they experienced and the perceived need for vigilance. It describes how parents' caring responsibilities could affect their wellbeing, relationships and finances, and how a lack of trusted sources of childcare and a desire to enable a 'normal' childhood constrained personal choices and activities. However, use of diabetes technologies could lessen some of these burdens. Experiences of professional and informal support describes how encounters with healthcare professionals, while generally perceived as helpful, could lead to frustration and anxiety, and how connecting with other parents caring for a child with type 1 diabetes provided valued emotional and practical support.

CONCLUSIONS

This synthesis outlines the challenges parents encounter, their views about support received and ways in which support might be improved. It also highlights significant limitations in the current literature and points to important areas for future research, including how sociodemographic factors and use of newer diabetes technologies influence parents' diabetes management practices and experiences. PROSPERO: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019128710.

Performing care: emotion work and 'dignity work' - a joint autoethnography of caring for our mum at the end of life

In this paper we, twin sisters, present a joint autoethnographic account of providing end of life care for our mum who had terminal cancer. Using the theoretical framing of performance from Goffman's theory of Dramaturgy, we present the findings from a joint autoethnography, focusing on two key themes: performing emotion work and performing what we conceptualise as 'dignity work'. This paper's contributions are twofold. First, conceptually, this paper offers an important contribution to literature concerned with the sociology of illness, by critically engaging with Goffman's notion of frontstage and backstage performance, applied to the context of home care provided by family carers. The second contribution of this paper is methodological; we promote the under-utilised approach of a joint autoethnography and argue for its usefulness in the context of end of life care. We contend that the process of writing this paper was emotionally challenging, yet arriving at the final paper, which serves as a legacy of our mum, was cathartic. We argue for the usefulness of written diaries as a backstage arena through which other informal carers can think through, and come to terms with, experiences of death and dying.

A systematic review of patient access to medical records in the acute setting: practicalities, perspectives and ethical consequences

Background

Internationally, patient access to notes is increasing. This has been driven by respect for patient autonomy, often recognised as a primary tenet of medical ethics: patients should be able to access their records to be fully engaged with their care. While research has been conducted on the impact of patient access to outpatient and primary care records and to patient portals, there is no such review looking at access to hospital medical records in real time, nor an ethical analysis of the issues involved in such a change in process.

Methods

This study employed a systematic review framework in two stems, to integrate literature identified from two searches: Medline, CINAHL and Scopus databases were conducted, (for (1) hospitalised patients, patient access to records and its effects on communication and trust within the doctor-patient relationship; and (2) patient access to medical records and the ethical implications identified). The qualitative and quantitative results of both searches were integrated and critically analysed.

Results

3954 empirical and 4929 ethical studies were identified; 18 papers representing 16 studies were identified for review (12 empirical and 6 ethical). The review reveals a consensus that our current approach to giving information to patients – almost exclusively verbally – is insufficient; that patient access to notes is a welcome next step for patient-centred care, but that simply allowing full access, without explanation or summary, is also insufficient. Several ethical implications need to be considered: increased information could improve patient trust and knowledge but might transfer an (unwelcome) sense of responsibility to patients; doctors and patients have conflicting views on how much information should be shared and when; sharing written information might increase the already significant disparity in access to health care, and have unforeseen opportunity costs. The impact on medical practice of sharing notes in real time will also need to be evaluated.

Conclusions

The review presents encouraging data to support patient access to medical notes. However, sharing information is a critical part of clinical practice; changing how it is done could have significant empirical and ethical impacts; any changes should be carefully evaluated.

Case-Based Insights: Arab Muslim Mothers' Experiences of Managing a Child Newly Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Mothers frequently fulfill the role of primary caregiver for children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). A T1DM diagnosis has a significant impact on the child and the wider family unit. The objective is to develop understanding of mothers' experiences caring for children diagnosed with T1DM in the cultural context of the Middle East to facilitate enhanced health service provision and support. This study used a qualitative design. Data were collected in individual semistructured interviews. Participants were mothers of Arabic descent and Muslim belief who had a child diagnosed with T1DM within the last 12 months. All mothers were registered at the health service where this research was conducted and resident in the United Arab Emirates at the time of this study. COREQ guidelines informed reporting of the research and findings. Participating mothers described initial reactions of shock and disbelief, followed by transition to near ordinary and near normal (85% normal) family functioning. Family, culture, and faith emerged as critical supports in the whirlwind daily challenge of balancing the multiple demands and competing needs of the newly diagnosed child and the broader family. This study is the first of its kind from countries comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council. The findings provide insight into the challenges and support needs of mothers caring for children newly diagnosed with T1DM in an Arab Muslim context. The findings also provide a basis for enhancing health service support and suggest themes to inform further research.

"A Two Glass of Wine Shift": Dominant Discourses and the Social Organization of Nurses' Substance Use

We undertook an institutional ethnography utilizing the expert knowledge of nurses who have experienced substance-use problems to discover: (a) What are the discourses embedded in the talk among nurses in their everyday work worlds that socially organize their substance-use practices and (b) how do those discourses manage these activities? Data collection included interviews, researcher reflexivity, and texts that were critically analyzed with a focus on institutional features. Analysis revealed dominant moralistic and individuated discourses in nurses’ workplace talk that socially organized their substance-use practices, subordinated and silenced experiences of work stress, and erased employers’ roles in managing working conditions. Conclusions included that nurses used substances in ways that enabled them to remain silent and keep working. Nurses’ education did not prepare them regarding nurses’ substance-use problems or managing emotional labor. Nurses viewed alcohol as an acceptable and encouraged coping strategy for nurses to manage emotional distress.