The Qualitative Report Volume 14 Number 1 March 2009 61-80 http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR14-1/blanchard.pdf Lived Experiences of Adult Children Who Have a Parent Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease Amy Blanchard, Jennifer Hodgson, Angela Lamson, and David Dosser East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina Little is known about the experience among adult children who have a parent with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to explore, appreciate, and describe their experiences using a phenomenological methodology. Narratives were collected from seven participants who have a parent diagnosed with PD and analyzed according to Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological data analysis method. Seven thematic clusters were identified and an exhaustive description is presented to summarize the essence of their lived experience. The study indicates a strong sense of essential positivism from the participants’ stories, and overall, it seems PD has brought some degree of biological, psychological, socially, and/or spiritual meaning to their lives that they may not have otherwise noticed or experienced. Key Words: Parkinson’s Disease, Phenomenology, Biopsychosocial-spiritual, Adult, Children and Illness Introduction “The bond between mother and child is so deeply rooted in our emotions that we fear to discuss openly anything that threatens the bond” – Glenna Atwood (1991) Establishing links between chronic illnesses and family impact are not novel (e.g., Cooke, McNally, Mulligan, Harrison, & Newman, 2001; Kielcolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001, Martire, Lustig, Schultz, Miller, & Helgeson, 2004). However, much of the attention to study inclusion of a family caregiver into the care experience has focused on the spouse (Keefe, Buffington, Studts, & Rumble, 2002) or children under the age of 25 (e.g., Olsen & Clarke, 2003; Pakenham, Bursnall, Chiu, Cannon, & Okochi, 2006), and not as much attention has been paid to the experiences of the adult children who are also involved in providing some level of care. The parent-child bond is one of the most enduring familial relationships (Golish, 2000). In fact, most parents and children share 50 or more years of their lives together (Hagestad, 1987). With increasing numbers of chronically ill older adults in America (Anderson, 2002), there is a growing trend of adult children who inevitably become the caregivers for their parent(s) (Walker & Pratt, 1991) and who themselves experience biomedical, psychological, and social stresses and strains associated with their care giving role (Kaufman & Uhlenberg, 1998; Lieberman & Fisher, 1995). Adult children are voicing an increased need for support from helping professionals as they take on added responsibilities for their parent’s care and well-being.