because we care
exploring care and well-being with siblings of children with life-limiting conditions through philosophical inquiry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12957/childphilo.2026.94817Palavras-chave:
bem-estar, cuidado, irmãos, doenças terminais, investigação filosóficaResumo
As experiências dos irmãos de crianças com doenças terminais têm recebido uma atenção cada vez maior nos últimos anos. No entanto, a conceitualização de bem-estar e cuidado tem recebido atenção limitada. Esse artigo apresenta os resultados de um projeto desenvolvido com um pequeno grupo de crianças que têm irmãos com doenças terminais. De forma singular, os irmãos exploraram os conceitos de cuidado e bem-estar através de uma série de diálogos filosóficos e atividades artísticas complementares. Quatro temas principais fundamentaram o modo como os irmãos pensaram sobre cuidado e bem-estar: ser você mesmo, a vida é uma montanha russa emocional, o amor é complexo e juntos somos mais fortes. A mensagem principal dos irmãos sobre o cuidado e o bem-estar é que o amor estimula comportamentos solidários e que devemos cuidar uns dos outros, não porque tenham necessidades específicas, mas porque somos seres humanos. Compreender como os irmãos de crianças com doenças terminais pensam sobre cuidado e bem-estar garante que esse grupo sub-representado seja ouvido e que, ao atendê-los, as famílias e outras pessoas que cuidam e se preocupam com eles possam melhor satisfazer suas necessidades, de modo que vivam bem.
Downloads
Referências
Amerijckx, G., & Humblet, P.C. (2014). Child well-being: What does it mean? Children and Society, 28(5), 404–415. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12003
Aristotle. (2020). Nicomachean ethics. Penguin.
Baena, S., Hidalgo, V. & Jiménez, L. (2025). ‘That’s just the Way it is’: The Experiences of Co- habiting Spanish Siblings of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Child and Family Studies 34, 762–777. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02979-9
Booth, A., Maddison, J., Wright, K., Fraser, L., & Beresford, B. (2018). Research prioritisation exercises related to the care of children and young people with life-limiting conditions, their parents and all those who care for them: A systematic scoping review. Palliative Medicine, 32(10), 1552–1566. 10.1177/0269216318800172
Bourke, L., & Geldins, P. (2007). What does wellbeing mean? Perspectives of wellbeing among young people and youth workers in rural Victoria. Youth Studies Australia, 26(1), 41–49.
Braune, V., & Clarke, V. 2021. Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage.
Brennan, C., Hugh-Jones, S., & Aldridge, J. (2012). Paediatric life-limiting conditions: Coping and adjustment in siblings. Journal of Health Psychology, 18(6), 813–824. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105312456324
Camfield, L., Streuli, N., & Woodhead, M. (2009). What’s the use of ‘well-being’ in contexts of child poverty? Approaches to research, monitoring and children’s participation. International Journal of Children’s Rights, 17(1), 65-109. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181808X357330
Cassidy, C. (2007). Thinking children. Continuum.
Cassidy, C. (2017). Wellbeing, Being Well or Well Becoming: Who or what is it for and who might we get there? In M. Thornburn (Ed.), Wellbeing, education and contemporary schooling (pp.13-26). Routledge.
Cassidy, C. (2024). Being Well, Being in the Community, Having Voice and Agency through Practical Philosophy. In M.C. Beaton, A. Burke, P. Keskitalo, & T. Turunen (Eds.). Children’s voice and agency in diverse settings. International research and perspectives (pp.8- 23). Routledge.
Cassidy, C., Conrad, S-J., Daniel, M-F., Garside, D., Kohan, W., Murris, K., Figueiroa-Rego, M., Wu, X., & Zhelyazkova, T. (2017). Being children: Children’s voices on childhood. International Journal of Children’s Rights, 24(3-4), 698-715. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718182-02503006
Cassidy, C., Conrad, S-J., & Figueiroa-Rego, M.J. (2019). Research with children: A philosophical rights-based approach. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 43(1), 38-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2018.1563063
Coffman, M.C., Kelso, N., Antezana, L., Braconnier, M., Richey, J.A. & Wolf, J. (2021). Understanding of ASD by siblings is associated with warmth and hostility in the sibling relationship. Journal of Child and Family Studies 30, 1577–1585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01945-z
Connor, S.R., Downing, J., & Marston, J. (2017). Estimating the global need for palliative care for children: A cross-sectional analysis. J Pain Symptom Manage, 53(2), 171- 177. 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.08.020
Conrad, S-J., Cassidy, C., & Mathis, C. (2015). Encouraging and Supporting Children’s Voices. In J. Tremmel, A. Mason, I. Dimitrijoski, & P. Godli (Eds.). Youth quotas and other efficient forms of youth participation in ageing democracies (pp.109-124). Springer.
Dunbar, H., Hart, T., & de Vries, K. (2024). ‘Listen to our voice!’ Using co-creation and art- based methods to explore the welfare and wellbeing of siblings of children with life- limiting conditions. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 30(1-2), 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2024.2397742
Fattore, T., & Mason, J. (2017). The significance of the social for children’s well-being. Children and Society, 31(4), 276-289. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12205
Fraser, L.K., Gibson-Smith, D., Jarvis, S., Norman, P., & Parslow, R.C. (2021). Estimating the current and future prevalence of life-limiting conditions in children in England. Palliative Medicine, 35(9), 1641–1651. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216320975308
Fullerton, J.M., Totsika, V., Hain, R., & Hastings, R.P. (2017). Siblings of children with life- limiting conditions: Psychological adjustment and sibling relationships. Child: Care, Health and Development, 43(3), 393-400. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12421
Graham, A. & Fitzgerald, R. (2011). Supporting children’s social and emotional well-being: Does ‘having a say’ matter? Children & Society, 25, 447-457. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00295x
Gregory, D., Van Puymbroeck, M., Crowe, B., Garst, B., & Amylon, M. (2022). The lived experience of siblings of children with cancer who attended a peer support camp in the United States. Qualitative Health Research, 32(8-9), 1342-1355. doi: 10.1177/10497323221095478.
Hanna, A. (2022). Silent epistemologies: Theorising children’s participation rights. International Journal of Children's Rights, 31(1), 40-60. http://doi.org/10.1163/15718182-30040003
Horgan, D. (2017). Child participatory research methods: Attempts to go ‘deeper’. Childhood, 24(2), 245-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568216647787
Jaaniste, T., Cuganesan, A., Chin, W.L.A., Tan, S.C., Coombs, S., Heaton, M., Cowan, S., Aouad, P., Potter, D., Smith, P.L., & Trethewie, S. (2021). Living with a child who has a life- limiting condition: The functioning of well-siblings and parents. Child: Care, Health and Development, 48(2), 269-276. 10.1111/cch.12927
Knecht, C., Hellmers, C., & Metzing, S. (2015). The perspective of siblings of children with chronic illness. A literature review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 30, 102-116. 10.1016/J.PEDN.2014.10.010
Lane, C., & Mason, J. (2014). Meeting the needs of siblings of children with life-limiting illnesses. Nursing Children and Young People, 26(3), 16-20. 10.7748/ncyp2014.04.26.3.16.e349
Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in education. (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Lundy, L. (2007). ‘Voice’ is not enough. Conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927- 942. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701657033
McCall, C.C. (2009). Transforming thinking. Philosophical inquiry in the primary and secondary classroom. Routledge.
Parkinson, A., Mullan, B., & Finlay-Jones, A. (2025). Understanding wellbeing from the perspective of youth with chronic conditions: A group concept mapping approach. International Journal of Wellbeing, 15(1), 4129, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i1.4129
Pascal, C., & Bertram, T. (2014). Transformative Dialogue: The impact of participatory research on practice. In A. Clark, R. Flewitt, M. Hammersley, & M. Robb (Eds.), Understanding research with children and young people (pp.269-284). Sage.
Robinson, C. (2021). Lost in translation: The reality of implementing children’s right to be heard. Journal of the British Academy, 8(s4), 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480207073702
Spyrou, S. (2016). Researching children’s silences: Exploring the fullness of voice in childhood research. Childhood, 23(1), 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568215571618
Tasker, S.L., & Stonebridge, G.G.S. (2016). Siblings, you matter: Exploring the needs of adolescent siblings of children and youth with cancer. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 31, 712–722. 10.1016/j.pedn.2016.06.005
Tay, J., Widger, K., Steele, R., Stremler, R. & Pole, J.D. (2024). Examining emotional and behavioural trajectories in siblings of children with life-limiting conditions. BMC Palliative Care 23, 205. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-024-01535-y
Thomas, N., Graham, A., Powell, M.A., & Fitzgerald, R. (2016). conceptualisations of children’s wellbeing at school: The contribution of recognition theory Childhood, 23(4), 506-520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568215622802
Thornburn, M. (2017). Contrasting Conceptions of Wellbeing and their Implications for Educational Planning and Practice. In M. Thornburn (Ed.), Wellbeing, education and contemporary schooling (pp.27-43). Routledge.
United Nations. (1989). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations.
Wall, K., Cassidy, C., Robinson, C., Hall, E., Beaton, M., Kanyal, M., & Mitra, D. (2019). Look who’s talking: Factors for considering the facilitation of very young children’s voices. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 17(4), 263-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X19875767
Yang, H-C., Mu, P.F., Sheng, C-C., Chen, Y-W., & Hung, G-Y. (2016). Systematic review of the experiences of siblings of children with cancer. Cancer Nursing, 39(3), 12-21. 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000258
Downloads
Publicado
Edição
Seção
Licença
Copyright (c) 2026 claire cassidy, cillian dwyer, lorna fraser, anna robinson

Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. os direitos autorais de cada artigo publicado na childhood & philosophy pertencem ao(s) seu(s) autor(es). childhood & philosophy tem o direito da primeira publicação. a seguinte indicação deve ser adicionada à reimpressão do artigo depois de sua primeira publicação em childhood & philosophy (com os números apropriados substituindo as elipses): [título do artigo] foi originalmente publicado em childhood & philosophy, volume ..., número ..., pp. ...-...
