Giving a Voice to Adolescents Living with a Sibling with Chronic Illness

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological enquiry was to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be an adolescent living with a sibling who has a chronic illness. Children’s chronic illness has an impact on well siblings and research findings have been inconsistent as to what effect this has on them. Semi-structured interviews using photo-elicitation were conducted with eight adolescents who had siblings with a chronic illness. Through the use of interpretive phenomenology, three themes emerged: Making Sense over Time, Getting Away from It All, and Creating Common Ground with Siblings and Family. The adolescents were able to make sense of chronic illness over time by asking parents questions about the illness and attending support groups. Siblings found normalcy in their lives by getting away to spend time alone or connecting with friends.