Understanding Home Care Professionals’ Perspectives on the Efficacy and Challenges of Psychoeducational Interventions for Chronically Ill Children and their Families: A Qualitative Study

This study investigates the perspectives of home care professionals involved in the psychoeducational care of children with chronic illnesses and their families. Advances in medical care, leading to increased active life expectancy and prolonged existence with chronic illness, have necessitated the home setting becoming a vital environment to foster self-management skills and promote overall well-being. However, the viewpoints of the professionals delivering these interventions remain underexplored. This study presents the experiences and insights of nine home care professionals from the Learning by Playing project, a collaboration initiated in 2021 by a group of Italian organizations following a specific public funding call. Through a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, the study highlights the positive outcomes, flexibility, and customizability of the project. The analysis also identifies areas for improvement, such as the need for enhanced multidisciplinary collaboration and better organizational support and supervision. The findings show how delivering psychoeducational care in home settings is complex, requiring professionals to navigate the unpredictable dynamics of family life and the specific needs of each child. This research contributes to the limited body of literature on home-based psychoeducational care by offering valuable perspectives from specialized educators and psychologists, along with organizational insights for policymakers.