Föräldrars upplevelser av att leva med ett barn med diabetes typ 1 - en litteraturstudieParents experiences of living with a child with type 1 diabetes - a literature review
Background: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is a chronical disease that often occurs early in life. In 2005 around 7000 children in Sweden was estimated with type 1 diabetes. When a child gets a chronical disease it affects the whole family. The parents will be the ones who take the main responsible for the child´s care. Purpose: The aim of this literature review was to describe the parents experiences of living with a child with type 1 diabetes. Method: A literature review was carried trough based on 14 scientific articles. The articles were analysed and six categories emerged. Result: All parents experienced chock and confusion in the initial stage. They needed a lot of knowledge and experienced a huge responsibilty in managing their child´s diabetes. To have a young child or an adolescent could offer different difficulties. Increased knowledge and experiences contributed to higher confidence and optimism in parents. Conclusion: The parents are the most important persons in a child´s life, and accordingly to that it is important that caregivers make sure they will educate the parents in no hurry and to support them in the great art of taking care of their chronically ill child.