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Psychosocial services have been recommended for families of children with chronic illnesses to assist them in adjusting to the illness experience. However, little is known about the benefit of psychosocial interventions in clinical practice. This study aimed at evaluating the benefits of a two-session family therapeutic conversation intervention (FAM-TCIs) for families of children diagnosed with asthma, cancer, or diabetes. A secondary data analysis was conducted on intervention data from 37 families of children with chronic illnesses. Mothers of the children/teenagers perceived significantly higher family support after the FAM-TCI compared with before; mothers reported significantly higher collaboration and problem-solving abilities on the expressive family functioning scale after the FAM-TCI. However, no significant differences were found on the fathers' perceived family support nor on their expressive family functioning after the FAM-TCI compared with that before the intervention. It is promising that mothers of children with chronic illness perceived the two-session FAM-TCI to be beneficial to them. More attention should be paid to psychosocial interventions for families of children with chronic illnesses.

In an effort to examine translation of family nursing knowledge to practice, the Landspitali University Hospital Family Nursing Implementation Project (2007-2011), was thoughtfully initiated in Reykjavik, Iceland and systematically evaluated. The mission was to implement family nursing in every department of the hospital. This publication is the first formal research report from this landmark project. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term therapeutic conversation intervention with families who were receiving health care services at the Children's Hospital at Landspitali University Hospital in Iceland related to childhood and adolescent acute and chronic illnesses. The therapeutic conversation was guided by Family Systems Nursing and used the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models (Wright & Leahey, 2005, 2009). Families ( N = 76) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (short-term therapeutic conversation: n = 41) or to a control group (traditional care: n = 35). Parents in the experimental group reported significantly higher family support after the intervention, compared to the parents in the control group. Differences were noted between families experiencing acute versus chronic illnesses. Recommendations are made for conducting and designing intervention research with families experiencing the hospitalization of a child or adolescent.

Family members' experience of integrating chronic illnesses or chronic conditions into family life is valuable information for health care professionals, such as nurses, to understand, improve, and adjust the care provided to families of chronically ill patients. Furthermore, the assessment of the experience of integrating chronic illness into family life can support family nursing interventions and reduce suffering. This study aimed to adapt and psychometrically test a new Likert-type questionnaire on the experience of integrating pediatric chronic illness into family life (EICI-FLQ) in two European samples. A sample of 164 primary caregivers of children/adolescents with chronic illnesses/conditions in Iceland and another sample of 237 primary caregivers with children/adolescents with chronic illnesses/conditions in Portugal completed the online questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis of the Icelandic sample yielded support for a one-factor solution with acceptable internal reliability (Cronbach's α = .866). Confirmatory factor analysis of the one-factor structure in the Portuguese sample indicated good model fit and similar internal reliability (Cronbach's α = .838). This instrument has good psychometric characteristics and is a promising tool for measuring the experience of integrating pediatric chronic illness into family life in clinical and research settings.