title: After a child's acquired brain injury (ABI): An ethnographic study of being a parent.
abstract: To explore the meanings associated with being a parent of a child with an aquired brain injury (ABI).
  
  
  
  An ethnographic study was conducted with parents of children aged 3 to 10 years who had acquired a severe brain injury. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit parents from the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. Data collection involved participant observation, fieldwork and semi-structured interviews. Field notes and interviews transcriptions were analysed using a thematic analysis framework and informed by symbolic interactionism theory.
  
  
  
  Six parent dyads (mothers and fathers) and 4 mothers participated in the study.Parents' meanings of `parenting' a child with severe brain injury were shaped by the injury, wide range of familial dynamics, and interactions. Six main themes related to parental meanings emerged from our data: (1) Getting `back to normal'; (2) Relying on a support system; (3) Worrying something bad may happen after the injury; (4) Going through a range of emotions following the injury; (5) Changing family dynamics after the injury; and (6) Ongoing performativity.
  
  
  
  Parents' meanings of `parenting' a child are extensively impacted by their child's functioning after the ABI. Having a greater appreciation of these experiences may be beneficial for medical professionals.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Marghalara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.|Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Helly R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Goez
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caine
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.|Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Jerome Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yager
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Anthony S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Amanda S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Ethnography; acquired brain injury; head injury; parental meanings; parenting; qualitative research