Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the body image of children with congenital heart disease. This study was an inductive qualitative research conducted by interviewing 12 adolescences. The body image of children with congenital heart disease composed of three themes: 1) The base theme was "be aware of own heart function", a sense that reflected disease characteristic; 2) A sense of restriction bounded by the heart disease; and 3) a sense of liberation despite the illness. These images are affected by the children's disease symptoms, treatment behaviors, activities, and perceptions of the public. Companions in the patient support group seemed to have influenced the sense of liberation. The body images that could not be judged from physical appearances and are specific to these children give a new perspective of how to provide comprehensive understanding and support to the children with congenital heart disease.
