The Strong Parents-Strong Children programme: Parental support in serious and chronic child illness

Abstract

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of an intervention programme developed to help parents manage serious child illness. Method: Informat ion from previous research about parents' stress of managing their children's serious illnesses, plus their wishes for what to do about it, were used to develop a behavioural intervention to be used with groups of parents with seriously ill children. The 6-week programme, called 'Strong Parents-Strong Children', was tested using a wait-list control design, and evaluated by standardised and researcher-developed psychological measures. Results: Several significant post-test changes in healthier directions were found for the study group, compared with the control group. Additionally, the group process and session helpfulness received positive appraisals, personal goals were attained at high levels, and most participants said they would recommend the programme to others in similar situations. Conclusions: The programme appears to have significant and positive impact on the parents of seriously ill children.