Table 4.
Parents Views on the Most and Least Helpful Aspects of the Meeting
| Most helpful | |
|---|---|
| Theme | Example a |
| Information | |
| Gain new information | For us specifically, we found out a lot more information about our son than the information presented during our hospital time. |
| Validate prior understanding | It helped me to verify what I had thought was the case. The doctor verified what I had thought. |
| Ask questions | I had lingering questions that I would go over again and again and now they are all answered. |
| Emotional support | |
| Express emotions | Time was created for me just to talk and open up…I was able to open up and express feeling. |
| Feel supported | The doctors were supportive and cared. The doctors knew my son and showed their concern. |
| Gain reassurance | I was reassured that we made the right decisions…the doctors felt that we made the right decisions too. That was good to know. |
| Reconnection | It was nice to see Dr. N- and give me a chance to think about the most important time of my life, to thank her. Also, it was good to come back to the hospital, brought back good memories, it was my daily routine. |
| Provide feedback | I could talk about my likes and dislikes which I didn’t do as much in the hospital. I had an opportunity a lot of people don’t have a chance to do. I was able to say what I thought. |
| Meeting Style | |
| Pace | I was not rushed at the meeting. I did not feel like I was inconveniencing anyone. |
| Atmosphere | Peaceful atmosphere. No pressure. Not a lot of overcrowding. Not a bunch of people there. |
| Communication | The doctor did not withhold any information. He did it in terms we could understand. |
| Least helpful | |
| Theme | Example |
| Lack of information | In our situation, we really still don’t have an answer as to what happened to her. |
| Selection of meeting attendees | Maybe there would have been other people there that may have been helpful too. I know that you told us we could request others but we did not give that too much thought prior to the meeting. |
a
Examples are paraphrased comments from parents collected from telephone evaluation surveys