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- Title
Parents' Experience Caring for Young Children with Minor Illness: An Ecological Perspective.
- Authors
Turner, Joan C.; French, Carmel
- Abstract
Typical family routines break down when a child is ill. For working parents, child care and employment conditions and demands inevitably play a role in the process of determining short-term child care arrangements. According to previous research, the decision to stay home and care for the ill child is complex (Polyzoi & Babb, 2004: Polyzoi, Elfenhaum, & Babb, 2006). The aim of this current study is to gain insight into the perspective of working parents as they balance child care, family and work during episodes of minor illness in children. Personal experiences of eight mothers were assessed through semi-structured interviews. The analysis focuses on the interrelationships between the contexts of daily family living, as guided by Ecological theory (Brunfenbrenner, 1979). The descriptions of experiences and events surrounding episodes of childhood illness make reference to home, the child care setting and the workplace, reflecting the attitudes and values of the larger society. The statement of one mother, "You know they don't want you to send your children, but yet they're not helping you stay home." reflects the overall sense of stress experienced by families as they deal with these occurrences.
- Subjects
WORKING parents; MEDICAL care; SICK people; CHILDREN of working parents; JUVENILE diseases; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress; CHILD care; FAMILY-work relationship
- Publication
Canadian Children, 2009, Vol 34, Issue 1, p13
- ISSN
0833-7519
- Publication type
Article