iabetes in childhood: understanding the family’ dynamic

Abstract

The situation of chronic illness shows as marking peculiarities the time duration and the risk of complications, requiring permanent care, putting in evidence the role of the family, specially when it refers to the child. The objective of the work was understand what are the meanings that the situation of child diabetes create in the family dynamics. As a theoretical and methodological reference, it has been used, respectively, the SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM (IS) and the GROUNDED THEORY (TFD). The research was carried through in the first semester of 2004, with six families, interviewed with the question “What’s changed in the familiar dynamics with the discovery of diabetes of the son?” In the current work, we learned four major themes that are representatives in the illness: “Life spinning around the child’s illness”, “Searching something to make us stronger”, “The need to change the routine” and “Living with danger”. We understand that each time it is necessary, not only for nurse, but also to other professional health, to understand the demands of care shown by the family in a way to develop actions that have effects on the population in demand.