Process of Empowerment in Mothers of Infants with Defecation Disorders

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Miyuki Nishida, RN, PhD
Faculty of Health Care and Nursing, Juntendo University, Chiba, Japan

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be to know caring for defecation disorder child's mother in home.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be to understand defecation disorder child's mother how to promote the empowerment for their care.

Methods: The subjects were 24 mothers of children with defecation disorders undergoing semi-structured interviews before and after participating in an empowerment program consisting of interviews, telephone visitations, and keeping a defecation journal. Data obtained were collected and rendered to content analysis.Ethical considerations: The study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committees of both the university and the university hospital where data was collected.Results: <Step 1> In the pre-program interview, mothers recounted defecation status from onset of the disorder, allowing for “Review of the child’s growth and development”, and “Reappraisal of the mother’s care-giving facilitating the emergence of confidence.” Moreover, it served as an opportunity for “Acquisition of new knowledge and reappraisal of the care they were providing.”
<Step 2> Defecation journals and telephone visitations aided the mother’s understanding of defecation characteristics and “Objective evaluation of the child’s condition.” Mother were then capable of “Baring emotions, and resetting their feelings,” enabling them to “Analyze the situation, set up strategies, and successfully resolve problems.”
<Step 3> Relating their children’s condition in the post-program interviews allowed for “Review and reappraisal of the child’s growth and defecation status.” Aware of their own feelings as a mother, and declaring what they needed to do in future, they attained a grasp on “Maternal feelings and outlook regarding care and nurturing.”Discussion: For mothers with a tendency towards habitual concealment stemming from a reluctance of revealing the disorder to others, the experience of relating the child’s and their own experience to a third party served as an opportunity for objective evaluation of their child’s growth and development.