Themes
DISEASE
We discovered three themes concerning the expectations and experiences of parents when visiting a GP for chronic GI symptoms: disease burden, GP–patient relationship and reassurance, with specific needs affecting their interrelationship. Using illustrative quotations, we discuss each theme’s meaning, subthemes (Subthemes per theme and factors positively and negatively influencing each themeGP, general practitioner.Conceptual framework. All three themes (blue rectangles) influenced the expectations and experiences of parents, and their experiences were influenced by whether the GP met their expectations. GPs can influence the relationships between themes by responding to the needs of parents and children (displayed in BOLD, next to the arrows).(A) Conceptual framework exemplified by Case 8. All themes are shown in red, indicating that these were negatively influenced, because the GP did not respond to the mother’s needs. The three bold arrows indicate a strong relationship between the themes. (B). Conceptual framework exemplified by Case 12. The themes shown in green were positively influenced because the GP responded to the father’s needs. The theme shown in grey (cognitive reassurance) was not prominent during the interview. Bold arrows indicate the strong relationship between themes. (C). Conceptual framework exemplified by Case 9. The red theme was negatively influenced because the GP did not respond to mother’s needs. The grey themes were not prominent during the interview. The bold arrows indicate strong relationships between themes, and the grey arrow indicates that this relationship was not prominent during the interview.