Parents and the Internet
The Internet Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology · 2003
The increasing emphasis on ambulatory care in Paediatrics over the past few years has meant that children are increasingly being discharged following short stays in hospital1. Sending a child home in the early stages of recovery has many implications for the parents of the convalescing patient. Although community nursing services are well developed in some regions2, the greatest burden of care will almost always fall on the parents. Research has shown that this responsibility may often feel overwhelming3. One of the reasons underlying this is a lack of information regarding the child's illness and expected recovery. Parental ignorance of how they should be caring for the child, the signs that should cause alarm, the long-term implications of a disease and a fear of the unknown may all be translated into anxiety. This anxiety leads to increased use of health services which would not have been required if information was more freely available. MacDonald4 found that over half the mothers of children who had been admitted to hospital sought professional help after discharge and that these carers could not recall information given to them in hospital.