title: Parents' Experiences of Health and Needs When Supporting Their Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy During Transition to Adulthood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parents are the primary support providers for adolescents with disabilities, their health and wellbeing is therefore of great importance when planning for youths' transition into adulthood. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how parents of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) experience their own health and wellbeing and their needs for support during the adolescent's transition to adulthood.
  
  
  METHODS
  An inductive qualitative approach was used, including interviews with 15 mothers and fathers to 10 adolescents with CP aged 17-18 years. Latent content analysis was used for analyzing the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main theme "Friction blisters chafing and healing during transition" illustrates the parents' experiences. Five sub-themes formed the parents' experiences of concerns along with sorrow and stress in life, worries about what was to come, their need for support, strategies for coping, and experiences of cohesion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge of parents' experiences of their health, wellbeing, and needs provide valuable information for the planning of transition for adolescents with disabilities. Help with parents' sorrow, stress, and worry in daily life might be facilitated and parental health safeguarded by a navigator who can both guide and give hands-on support.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine , Lund University , Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Björquist
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine , Lund University , Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nordmark
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine , Lund University , Sweden.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hallström
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000523:psychology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological
keywords: Adolescents; cerebral palsy; health and wellbeing; parents’ experiences; qualitative interviews; transition