Coping strategies of caregivers of children with chronic renal failure on automated peritoneal dialysis at a hospital in Gauteng, South Africa
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Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
BACKGROUND : Renal failure is a common chronic condition which affect both adults and children worldwide and is characterized by a gradual loss of kidney function over time. There are several ways to treat kidney failure and one of the methods is automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), which is mainly used in children. Children with chronic renal failure are cared for by caregivers at home. When a child is diagnosed with chronic renal failure, the caregivers’ lives change drastically, and they must adapt to this change of caring for the child undergoing APD.
AIM : The study aimed at exploring and describing the coping strategies of caregivers of children with chronic renal failure on APD at the selected academic hospital in the Gauteng Province, South Africa.
METHODS : An exploratory-descriptive design was used to conduct this study. The study used purposive sampling to select a total number of ten participants. These participants were invited for face-to-face interviews conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. The interview questions were open ended to allow participants to provide rich information. A digital audio recorder was used to record the interviews. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.
FINDINGS : Five themes emerged from the data: Psychological coping strategies, social and emotional support systems, spiritual coping strategies, substance use as a coping mechanism and recommended informational support systems by caregivers.
CONCLUSION : Although caregivers use various coping strategies associated with caring for children on APD, they require additional effective coping strategies and support from the hospital, family members and support groups.
Description
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The participants were interviewed individually in a private room on the day of their routine checkup at the selected hospital. The information disclosed by the participants was protected and kept in a locked cabinet. The participants’ names were not recorded anywhere, and no one was able to connect the participants to the answers they gave. The participants’ answers were linked to a fictitious code number or a pseudonym (another name) and the researcher referred to the participant in this way in the data, any publication report or other research output. All records from this study were regarded as confidential. Results will be published in medical journals or presented at conferences in such a way that it will not be possible for people to know the participants in the study. The records from the participants’ answers were reviewed by people responsible for making sure that research is done properly, including members of the Research Ethics Committee. All these people are required to keep the identity of the participants confidential. Otherwise, records that identify the participants are available only for people working on the study, unless the participants give permission for other people to see the records. All hard copy information is kept in a locked facility of health sciences at the University of Pretoria, for a minimum period of ten years and only the research team will have access to this information.
Keywords
Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), Caregivers, Chronic renal failure, Coping strategies
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-03: Good health and well-being
Citation
Khumalo, S., Van der Wath, A., Raikane, S. & Sepeng, N. 2026, 'Coping strategies of caregivers of children with chronic renal failure on automated peritoneal dialysis at a hospital in Gauteng, South Africa International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, vol. 24, art. 101004, pp. 1-9, doi : 10.1016/j.ijans.2026.101004.