Recorded presentation

Jane W. Peterson, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122-4340, 206-296-5682, jpeterso@seattleu.edu and Yvonne M. Sterling, RN, DNSc, School of Nursing, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 1900 Gravier Street, New Orleans, LA 70112.

Purpose: To show how children use metaphors to communicate their concept of asthma. Rationale/Conceptual Basis/Background: Children reason by connecting surface features, tangible elements (symptoms) to make sense of an illness – they do not reason from abstract principles. Their understanding is their reality. Finding out a child’s own story of the illness is a necessary starting point for any health care provider. Method: This paper reports on a sub-sample of a lager research study. The design of this study is descriptive and uses an ethnographic approach with participant-observation and interviews. Children discussed their illness through the use of metaphors. It is these metaphors that are discussed. Participants reported here consist of 10 children, ages 9-12, recruited from several clinics in Seattle. Each participant was followed for 12 months. Results: Findings show that children create their own metaphors for asthma out of their experiences. These metaphors are concrete, familiar to them, multivocal and allow for embellishment, incorporating new information as it is imparted by health care providers. The metaphor’s meaning will therefore be different for each child and different for the same child at various times in the course of the illness and at various times in his/her life. The metaphor is the child’s way of trying to make meaning of his/her illness. Implications: If health care providers incorporate the child’s metaphor in their explanations and asthma management plans, meaning would be shared, treatment plans could be negotiated and followed and better health outcomes for the child with asthma achieved.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize metaphors children use to describe their illness.
• Develop a care plan using metaphors that are part of the child's conceptualization of his/her illness.

Keywords: Asthma, Children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation