Browsing by Author "Soares, Joaquim J.F."

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    Distress and hopelessness among parents of children with congenital heart disease, parents of children with other diseases, and parents of healthy children
    (Journal of psychosomatic research, 2002) Lawoko, Stephen; Soares, Joaquim J.F.
    We examined differences in distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and somatisation) and hopelessness (e.g., suicide ideation) among parents of congenital heart disease (CHD) children (PCCHD, n = 1092), parents of children with other diseases (PCOD, n = 112), and parents of healthy children (PHC, n = 293). In addition, we determined the proportion of parents in each group whose scores in distress and hopelessness, respectively, exceeded norms for psychiatric outpatients (POPN) and depressed people, and identified determinants of distress and hopelessness among all parents, and the PCCHD. Method: The parents completed a questionnaire about such areas as distress and hopelessness. The design was cross-sectional and data were collected during 20 consecutive days. Results: PCCHD were generally at higher risk of distress and hopelessness. A significant number of parents, in particular PCCHD, reported levels of distress and hopelessness within/above POPN and depressed people, respectively. Mothers within all parent groups had higher levels of distress and hopelessness than fathers, with the highest levels among mothers of children with CHD compared to mothers in the other groups. Fathers of children with CHD were doing worse than fathers belonging to the other groups. There were no differences between PCOD and PHC. Variables such as employment status and financial situation explained more of the variation in distress and hopelessness among parents than the diseases of their children. Conclusion: We corroborated previous findings and provide new insights into the experiences of PCCHD that may be of importance when considering intervention. Further research concerning the parents, in particular PCCHD, at risk of developing psychosocial problems is needed
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    Satisfaction with care: a study of parents of children with congenital heart disease and parents of children with other diseases
    (Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2004) Lawoko, Stephen; Soares, Joaquim J.F.
    Wecompared parents of childrenwith congenital heart disease (PCCHD, n ¼ 1092) with parents of children with other diseases (PCOD, n ¼ 112) regarding satisfaction with their children’s care (SCC).Wealso examined the association between parental/patient characteristics and SCC. Method: The parents completed a questionnaire about such areas as satisfaction with care, children’s health status, and financial situation. The design was cross-sectional and data were gathered over 20 consecutive days. Results: The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that PCCHD were more satisfied with their children’s medical care and waiting period for treatment of their ill children than PCOD, although the difference was only modest. Furthermore, mothers were less satisfied with staff attitudes than fathers, with the lowest satisfaction among mothers of children with CHD. However, the multivariate analysis indicated that less satisfaction with care was more associated with decreasing child age, unemployment, financial burden of disease, social isolation and psychological distress than with children’s diseases, their severity and parental gender. Conclusion: We corroborated some previous findings and may have provided new insights regarding determinants of SCC among parents. Interventions to improve SCC may need to address issues of parental psychological distress, socialization, and financial burden of illness. Possible ways of achieving this are discussed. Finally, research in a longitudinal format is needed to further scrutinize determinants of parental SCC