JOURNAL WRITING AS A SOCIAL SUPPORT STRATEGY FOR PARENTS OF PREMATURE-INFANTS - A PILOT-STUDY

Background: Having a premature baby is acknowledged to be stressful to parents. Journal writing combines practical, emotional and informatio nal support that may be useful to these parents. Method: We conducted a study to assess the potential for promoting journal-writing for pare nts receiving social support in a special care nursery (SCN). Parents were provided with educational material on journal writing, and subseq uently surveyed concerning their journal-writing during their child's hospitalization. Results: Of the 73 parents enrolled, 32% kept a journ al; of these, 73% felt it helped considerably in reducing stress, and 68% used it as a means of addressing the most stressful elements of th eir nursery experience. Journals were used primarily to document invol vement in care (45%), record-keeping (36%), and organization of though ts (27%). All of those who kept a journal recommended it for use by ot her parents. Conclusions: Encouraging parents to keep a journal is a c onstructive way of dealing with the SCN-related stress. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science Ireland Ltd.