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Children With Hiv: How They Feel About What Parents Say, Susan Pease Instone Dnsc, Msn, Cpnp

Dissertations

With improvements in diagnosis and care, children with HIV infection are living long enough to reach school age, a stage when they are capable of perceiving the stigmatizing, life-threatening nature of their illness. Many parents desire to protect them from this knowledge by avoiding an open dialogue about their disease, even though pediatric professionals advocate disclosure. Research-based guidelines about the risks and benefits of telling, however, have not been available in the literature. Using an innovative, qualitative approach through the use of grounded theory and projective drawing techniques, this investigation sought to explore what parents said about the illness and …