Abstract
The objective of this research is to explore; (1) how children with blood diseases achieve self-management with regard to self-care behavior, and (2) how an explanation of their diseases and parental support influence the children's self-management. The data were obtained from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 4 children aged between 10 and 14 in two hospitals and with their parents. The results show that the children showed self-management based on their understanding though they had some negative feelings. On the one hand they showed enough self-management to take medicines themselves, but on the other hand they did not show enough self-management to gargle. Body conditions, blood data, personal experience and understanding" of their needs had some influence on their self-management. All the children were given an explanation of their diseases with their hopes when they were hospitalized, which had some good influence on their self-management, but three children did not remember what they had been told. In addition, parental support that respected their state of mind and behavior promoted self-management.
