CAHSS Faculty Articles
"It's Nothing Serious, but...": Parents' Interpretations of Referral to Pediatric Cardiologists
Department
Department of Family Therapy
Publication Date
1990
Publication Title
Health Communication
Volume
2
Issue/No.
3
First Page
165
Last Page
187
Abstract
Differences in parents' interpretations of their child's referral for a heart murmur to pediatric cardiologists were investigated. Interviews with 32 families making their initial visits to a heart specialist were studied through the use of discourse analysis. Among the study's areas of investigation were: parents' concerns over being told that the heart murmur was not cause for worry, but the physician still felt the need to refer the child to a pediatric cardiologist; parents' doubts whether the referring physician had the expertise necessary to know when a murmur was inconsequential; and parents' uneasiness as to whether they should or should not be concerned over their chid's condition. A transcript of an actual referral to a pediatric cardiologist was used to illustrate to physicians how to conduct future referrals for heart murmurs.
NSUWorks Citation
Chenail, R., Douthit, P. E., Gale, J. E., Stormberg, J. L., Morris, G. H., Park, J. M., Sridaromont, S., & Schmer, V. (1990). "It's Nothing Serious, but...": Parents' Interpretations of Referral to Pediatric Cardiologists. Health Communication, 2 (3), 165-187. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327027hc0203_3
ORCID ID
0000-0002-9312-9780, 0000-0002-3982-6884
ResearcherID
G-8814-2018
DOI
10.1207/s15327027hc0203_3