Treatment for childhood acutelymphoblastic leukaemia:the fathers' perspective

Abstract

Research on parental adaptation to a child's chronic illness is still scant, and this is particularly so in relation to theexperience of treatment for paediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). The work that does exist on parentalreactions tends to conflate maternal responses with paternal responses, as fathers are usually seen as having a secondaryrole. Consequently, little is known about how fathers cope with treatment for childhood ALL. The present discussionseeks to make a contribution to this area by presenting findings on the paternal experience of treatment for paediatricALL from a longitudinal study conducted at Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. The findings fromthis research clearly indicate the emotional pain that fathers face in their struggle to accept the diagnosis of a serious,life-threatening illness such as ALL in their child. The findings challenge the notion of the male stereotype by showingthat the shock of diagnosis, the emotional pain of coping with the illness, the expression of pain through tears, thedesire to be with the child, the struggle to cope with the medical interventions, and concerns about other familymembers are not gender specific, but are rather issues common to both parents.