Perceptions of the quality of life for the adolescent with a chronic illness by teachers, parents and health professionals: a Delphi study
Aims The perceptions that teachers, parents and health professionals have on the relative importance of different aspects of quality of life (QOL) for the adolescent with a chronic illness were explored using a three‐round Delphi study. Methods The first round questionnaire identified the level of i...
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Published in | Child : care, health & development Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 341 - 349 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford, UK
Blackwell Science Ltd
01.09.2002
Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Aims
The perceptions that teachers, parents and health professionals have on the relative importance of different aspects of quality of life (QOL) for the adolescent with a chronic illness were explored using a three‐round Delphi study.
Methods
The first round questionnaire identified the level of importance each panel attached to 16 aspects relating to QOL. Panellists were also encouraged to provide additional comments on why they felt a particular item was important. In round two, panellists were asked to prioritize the items in order of importance, whereas round three attempted to achieve consensus among each of the three panels.
Results
Differences between and within panels in the prioritization of items in round one and round two were evident. However, consensus was achieved in round three, except for the prioritization of very important items by the panel of teachers. Items identified by all three panels as extremely important included the adolescent's attitude, family relationships and friendships with the same age group. Themes to emerge from the qualitative responses to the open‐ended questions included the perception of the chronically ill adolescent ‘not wanting to be different’ and the importance of a ‘positive attitude’. The majority of participants also perceived adolescents with a chronic illness as having worse QOL than their healthy counterparts.
Conclusions
By increasing the awareness among the different groups of the impact of chronic illness on various aspects of adolescent QOL, the overall care and support of those adolescents could be improved. Further studies should also be undertaken to explore the views of the chronically ill adolescents themselves. |
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Bibliography: | istex:F33BD019A409D2E48F4C3220B7C6FFAB022FDA10 ArticleID:CCH283 ark:/67375/WNG-GFCLK8JW-S ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1 |
ISSN: | 0305-1862 1365-2214 |
DOI: | 10.1046/j.1365-2214.2002.00283.x |