Experiences of caring for a technologically dependent child at home with an emphasis on home ventilation: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Introduction: Occasionally, children for a variety of reasons have respiratory disorders that require ventilation at home. Also, there are children with underlying conditions that make them dependent on ventilators either from birth or after a period of time. Aim of the studyThe aim of the study is to explore family members experiences of ventilation at home and provide a narrative account of their interpretations of this. Methods: MixedPhase 1: Survey of medical chartsPhase 2: Staff interviews analysed by thematic content analysis.Phase 3:In depth interviews with familiesResultsPhase 1: Analysed using descriptive statistics and has been recorded as an Excel file. Phase 2: Five staff have been interviewed at this time. Transcription and analysis is ongoing.Phase 3: A family to act as a “pilot” group has been contacted and will be interviewed. This will be transcribed and analysed using IPA(Smith 2003).Conclusion / discussionThe study is ongoing and preliminary findings are speculative at this timePractical relevanceThis study will enable practitioners to gain insight into the experiences of families using home ventilation and should influence care management and deliveryResearch implicationsThis study should enable further work to be carried out with children as the main subjects