Abstract

Parents have a great influence on their children's participation in a decision making process when a high risk treatment plan will be selected, however, there have been few reports focusing on parental ideas. Fifteen children aged between 1 and 15 years had received hematopoiesis stem cell transplantation within the past 2 years, while their parents became the subjects of this study. Semi-structural interviews with the parents were performed and analyzed through a qualitative, inductive research which described the parents' thoughts about stem cell transplantation as high risk treatment. The results show that the parents considered two aspects; the elements on the children's side were "participating ability" and "predicted reaction on the process", and those on the parents' side were "appreciation of the treatment method", "expected responsiveness" and "parental responsibility". Respecting the parents' intentions, it is important to understand these factors empathically, and support may be needed to enhance their ability to confront such difficulties.