Palliative Medicine, Ahead of Print.
Background:The demands of caring for a child with a life-limiting condition can have a profound impact on parents’ health and wellbeing. Currently, there is no standard procedure for identifying and addressing the support needs of these parents.Aim:To assess the suitability of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT (Paediatric)) for use with parents of children with a life-limiting condition.Design:Secondary qualitative content analysis of two qualitative datasets exploring the health, wellbeing and experiences of support of mothers and fathers of children with a life-limiting condition.Setting:A total of 30 mothers and 12 fathers were recruited via four UK children’s hospices and social media.Results:Parental experiences of support mapped onto the existing domains of the CSNAT (Paediatric). One aspect of their experience, surrounding their child’s educational needs, went beyond the existing domains of the CSNAT. An adapted version of the tool CSNAT (Paediatric) should include this domain.Conclusion:The CSNAT (Paediatric) is a relevant tool for the assessment of parental support needs. Further research should assess the acceptability and feasibility of implementation of the broader intervention: CSNAT-I (Paediatric).