| Description |
Cancer treatments often involve intense and difficult procedures which can make children feel distressed while also disrupting their quality of life (Woodgate, 2008). Their ability to participate in daily activities becomes severely restricted and relationships with parents and siblings are also strained as a result of the short- and long-term symptoms experienced (Linder & Hooke, 2019). Learning about how children perceive and/or describe these symptoms is challenging because children experience symptoms at varying amounts and intensities and can usually only identify their 'feeling states' using lay terminology (Vatne et al., 2010). However, understanding their vocabulary surrounding the word 'symptom' as well as their symptommanagement strategies can aid nurses, healthcare providers, and families to provide a more comprehensive, individualized, and sensitive approach to care (Woodgate, 2008). This was an exploratory, descriptive qualitative research study that aimed to describe how children between the ages of 6 to 12 characterize, manage, and cope with their symptoms using a series of cognitive interviews conducted as part of the evaluation of the content validity of two instruments, the Symptom Self-Management Behavior Tool (SSMBT) and the Self-Efficacy for Symptom Self Management Tool (SE-SSM). Participants were 21 children with cancer who were receiving treatment for cancer or who had completed cancer treatment. Overall, regardless of age or gender, each child had a different conceptualization of the word 'symptom' and even more unique associated psychosocial and physical care strategies. But sleeping/resting was overwhelmingly the most popular way to cope when feeling ill. And all 21 participants were in agreement that medication made them feel better. |
