Lived experiences of adolescents in dialysis: life with multiple loses.

Abstract

Introduction: Terminal renal failure affects all aspects of the person’s life. The impact of this illness during the adolescence is quite dramatic since the adolescent must overcome the demands from the developmental stage and the illness situation. Knowledge about the illness impact on the adolescents´life is scarce; as a contribution to increasing this knowledge, a study was done to describe the lived experiences of adolescents in dialysis.
Methodology: The study is qualitative; the methodological strategy used was interpretive phenomenolgy based on Heidegger´s phylosophy.
Findings: Adolescents in dialysis experienced losses in their everyday life, especially as students; they also experienced loss of their independence, their previous body image and their desirable body image. The imposed and rigid timetables for the pharmacological treatment and dialysis procedure, the dialysis catheter and the diet restrictions are the main causes of their losses. Peer relationships deteriorated due to the social isolation the adolescents imposed on themselves as a way to cope with the losses. Renal transplant is perceived as a mean to recover all they have lost.
Conclusion: Knowledge generated by this study would contribute to provide health care more congruent with the adolescents’ everyday needs.