Föräldern som mellanhand. En kvalitativ studie om barn som anhöriga inom cancervården.

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to investigate how nurses and counselors at an outpatient clinic in cancer care experience working with children as next of kin. This was done by examining how the nurses and counselors describes working with children who have a seriously ill parent. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with four counselors and three nurses from two oncology clinics in southern Sweden. The analysis was based on Antonovsky´s salutogenic concept of sense of coherence, comprising the components comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The results show that the support for children as next of kin is mainly provided by the parent. The balance between believing in the parent’s ability to support the child and the assignment as a professional to act despite resistance from a parent, is a challenge for the professionals. To work with children as next of kin with a salutogenic approach requires good amount of time, a good relationship with the patient, and the consent of the patient for the child to be involved. The results also show that good interprofessional cooperation is of importance to make the situation comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful for the children, which are factors influencing the health of children in a positive way.