‘We Are Lost at Sea’: How ‘Significant Others’ May Shape Parents’ Confidence to Make Decisions When Their Child Has Cancer

As parents process the devastating news that their child has been diagnosed with cancer, they enter a world where they are faced with making many complex decisions. Whilst previous research has focused on how healthcare professionals may support parental decision-making, limited attention has been given to how parents may turn to their social support networks for help. This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored what it means for parents to be supported by 'significant others' with decision-making, and how this enhances our understanding of parents' experiences at an incredibly difficult time. During interviews, six parents of children with cancer created ecomaps of their social support networks and identified decisions that they had made. This prompted in-depth conversations about their experiences of being supported in decision-making by these networks. The findings of this study illuminate a loss of confidence that parents may experience when their child is diagnosed with cancer, and the critical role that 'significant others' may play in shaping parents' confidence. Interpreting parents' stories through the philosophical lenses of Heidegger and Ricoeur promotes understanding that parents may need support to maintain and renew their identity as decision-makers, assert and release control of decision-making, and trust and challenge themselves and others in decision-making. Rather than depending on others to take over and make decisions on their behalf, parents feel supported when others offer 'solicitude' by empowering them to confidently advocate and make decisions for their own child.