Parents’ willingness and actual participation
in the care of their child’s Activity of Daily Living (ADL) during
hospitalization
Lim E., Dong Y.N., Liam L.W., Manilla
L., Yan Y.
KK
Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
Hospital admission for young children is a very
traumatic experience and it is at such time, that children need their
parents most (Evans, 1992). Benefits of parental involvement in a child’s
care have been recognized (Jones, 1994). A local study is
necessary, as most researches in literature reviews were done within a
western context.
Objective: To examine and
identify the factors contributing or inhibiting parents’ willingness and
actual participation in the care of their child’s ADL during
hospitalization.
Method: A descriptive
study was conducted with the aid of questionnaires in official languages.
All parents with children aged 1 month – 5 years admitted to an acute
Children’s Hospital for a 2-week period, were asked to complete a
questionnaire 12 hours after admission.
Results: Data analyzed
demonstrated that 89% of parents were willing to participate in their
child’s ADL during hospitalization with an exception on a few activities
such as bed sponging. Factors that encouraged or inhibited their
participation included promoting child’s comfort and being too tired
respectively.
Conclusion:
The results showed that parents are willing and were
actually participating in their child’s ADL during hospitalization, which
is consistent with other researches done in the western context.