A Qualitative Study of Management Process in Mothers' Roles and Their Family Situations at the Stable Stage of Hospitalization of Cancer Children (the Second Report)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make clear dynamic process of changing mothers' roles and their family situations at the stable stage of hospitalization of the cancer children as it is at this stage that becoming able to make predictions and planning, the mothers manage their roles with the children and in their family situation. The data was obtained from interviewing 12 mothers who were attending the hospitalized children. The data was qualitatively analyzed in the modified grounded theory approach. The previous paper was that changes of mothers' roles at the initial stage of hospitalization of the cancer children and the salvaging of family ties for a period of struggle against a disease. This paper focused on a maintaining process of family ties for the period. Two categories were analytically generated. One is mothers' roles with regard to attending the cancer children, which is more flexible than the initial stage. The other is mothers' role that are as same as daily life before hospitalization, which they can manage their actions at home and hospital. It is the feature at the stable stage that mother manage both roles.