Families' needs when a child is long-term ill: a literature review with reference to nursing research.

This article reports a literature review which draws together findings targeting families' needs when a child is long-term ill. The databases PubMed and CINHAL were searched from 1999 to 2003 during February 2004. The search terms were child health care, family caregivers, and needs and combinations of these. The search was limited to articles published in English and the Scandinavian languages. The analysis entailed a series of comparisons across articles focusing on major areas of inquiry and patterns of results. Various levels of needs are described, based on individual, family and social needs.