The development of an educational website for the parents of children experiencing chronic constipation

The purpose of this project was to develop an educational web-site for the parents of children with chronic constipation. As the climate of health care continues to change, patient education becomes a greater responsibility for health care providers, assessing and meeting informational needs of patients and their families are integral parts of health care practice (Canobbio, 1996). The nurse practitioner, at the forefront of healthcare, can use this tool to help patient and their families to combat the feeling of powerlessness that so frequently accompanies a health crisis (Davidhizer, 1992).

Chronic constipation in children is a frequent complaint in the primary care setting (Kirchner, 1999). Both a physical and emotional problem, it exacts a huge toll on the psychological well being of the family by eroding the self esteem of the child, and also the parents and their belief that they can effectively parent (Di Lorenzo, 2000). There is a deficit of educational material on this topic, particularly on the Internet. The Internet is the place to which more and more parents turn for medical information and emotional support (Chi-Lum,1999).