title: Caring for medically fragile children in the home: an alternative theoretical approach.
abstract: Medically fragile children require extensive, ongoing care that is typically provided in the home environment. The phenomenon of "caregiver burden" has been the topic of many studies in which the hardships and everyday life stressors of families with medically fragile children are examined. These studies are limited in that they focus merely on the difficulties of care, which represent only one dimension of the larger phenomenon of caregiving. It is the purpose of this article to review the literature from an alternative perspective in an attempt to provide a more thorough understanding of the dynamic of caregiving for a medically fragile child.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. mentro.1@osu.edu
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mentro
authors.forename: Deborah K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Steward
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004645:Empathy; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009742:Nursing Theory; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000451:nursing*