Concerns of and coping strategies by parents of pediatric liver transplant recipients: a qualitative study from China.

Parents of liver transplant recipient children have to face complicated health issues of their children. Coping strategies of parents as major care providers not only impacts on their handling of stresses on themselves but also on the recipients' quality of life. In this study, we sought to investigate the coping strategies of parents of Chinese pediatric liver transplant recipients at a single tertiary care institution in China. Twenty-five parents of liver transplant recipients were selected by the purposive sampling method and data was collected using qualitative semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was achieved. We extracted 5 major themes: 1) guilt and self-blame for not giving a happy life to the sick child; 2) seeking social support for helping to treat the sick child; 3) standing firm by not giving up on treating the sick child; 4) cautious caretaking; 5) compromise: a helpless acceptance of truth. In summary, parents of transplant recipients present 5 major coping strategies. Proper assessment of stresses on parents of liver transplant recipient children and their coping strategies may help the medical staff and social services to provide more targeted support, and help and promote the balance of the family function.