%0 Journal Article
%T SiblingsĄ¯ Experiences of Everyday Life in a Family Where One Child Is Diagnosed With Blood Cancer: A Qualitative Study
%A Hanna Van Parys
%A Jan De Mol
%A Lesley L. Verhofstadt
%A Liesbet Goubert
%A Marieke Van Schoors
%A Natacha Laeremans
%J Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing
%@ 1532-8457
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1043454218818067
%X Background: Childhood cancer not only presents challenges to the life of the child with cancer but also to the siblingsĄ¯ daily family life. The aim of the current study was to gain a better understanding of siblingsĄ¯ experiences of living in a family where one child has been diagnosed with blood cancer. Method: Ten siblings of children with leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma completed a semistructured interview about their everyday family life experiences postdiagnosis. The verbatim transcripts of the interviews served as the data for an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The results showed that overall the siblings experienced a continuity in many aspects of their family life: they still experienced their family as an important source of support and information/communication, as warm and loving and as a safe harbor where family members aim to protect each other. However, at the same time, the participating siblings also expressed that some things felt unmistakably different postdiagnosis: They felt that their family as a whole had been ripped apart, with a greater focus on the diagnosed child and changing responsibilities for each family member. Conclusion: This study informs parents and clinicians about the daily family life experiences from the siblingsĄ¯ perspective, a perspective that is often overlooked. A focus on challenges as well as continuities within family life, the wish for connection expressed by the siblings, and the uniqueness of every siblingĄ¯s experiences is what can be taken away from this study by psychosocial workers in the field
%K cancer
%K siblings
%K family
%K qualitative research
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1043454218818067