Abstract
We conducted a literature review regarding difficulties for parents with children who require medical care at home. On the ICHUSHI website version 5, we primarily searched domestic medical journals published between 1996 and 2015 using 7 keywords: “family, mother, parent”, “child (children)”, “pediatric”, “medical care”, “pediatric home”, “after discharge from NICU” and “child care”. Of these, 29 original articles which described specific problems in detail regarding home care were selected for the review. We looked at the overviews of the articles and analyzed the trend of the studies and difficulties that the parents had been facing. As a consequence, we found that the number of studies reporting such difficulties had been increasing every year. There were 4 types of difficulties for parents with children who require medical care at home: “difficulties associated with medical care”, “difficulties associated with children’s conditions”, “difficulties associated with social lives”, and “difficulties associated with parents, families and siblings”. They had experienced various situations in home care settings and had been living with mixed feelings. It is necessary to consider provision of supports in home care from various perspectives in order to relieve difficulties for children who require medical care and for their parents.
