THE FAMILY AND CHILDHOOD ASTHMA.

This paper examines the construction of Childhood Asthma Syndrome by families of affected children. That is, ways in which families understand and describe their child's illness, how they respond to the frequent changes, find ways to adjust to and accommodate being caretakers of a child with a chronic illness. The data revealed families' perception of childhood asthma as a process of frequent change in regard to the asthma condition itself, the child with asthma, individual family members and the family as a unit. Adjustment in family lifestyle was seen as necessary to accommodate the caretaker role of families of a child with a chronic illness. Therefore, to support the role the family plays in this process, additional insights are needed which focus on enabling family empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]