title: Mothers' perspectives on qualities of care in their relationships with health care professionals: the influence of relational and communicative competencies.
abstract: Research suggests that parents of seriously ill children place significant value on the relational context of their children's health care. This psychological phenomenological study explored mothers' perspectives on qualities that they found to be either helpful or unhelpful to their experiences of caregiving. Relational and communicative competencies were identified as most influential in mothers' assessments of provider care. Practitioners experienced in end-of-life care were viewed as highly supportive by the mothers in the study. Training for professionals in principles of palliative and end-of-life care is recommended for those who work with these children and families.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of New England, 716 Stevens Avenue, Portland, ME 04103, USA. scohenkonrad@une.edu
authors.forename: Shelley Cohen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Konrad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013997:Time Factors