The Decision-Making Process of Parents Choosing Home Care for Technology-Dependent Children and Related Factors

It is often challenging for parents to decide whether to provide care at home for a child with a chronic condition who requires life-support technology, and little is known about how parents make this difficult decision. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to explore the decision-making process of parents choosing home care for their technology-dependent child and the factors influencing this decision. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 11 parents whose children were technology-dependent and had been discharged from hospital. Throughout the decision-making process, conflicted or wavering feelings and various anxieties were present in the parents. Ultimately, accepting the child's state and/or feelings of affection toward the child led parents to decide to provide home care. This process was affected by various factors, including what other people said or did, and deciding to provide home care was represented by one or two of the following three categories: [feeling of “let us try”], [feeling of “it looks like it would work”], and [“being prepared for the possibility of the child's death”]. These findings demonstrate that the decision-making process is varied and complicated. Nurses and other medical professionals should assess parents' conflicted feelings, assist in clarifying the cause of their anxieties, promote parent-child attachment, and help facilitate the child's development to support parents during the decision-making process.