The experiences and perceptions of healthy siblings of children with a long-term condition: Umbrella review

Problem: The lives of healthy siblings living with a sibling with a long- term condition are often shaped by the family, type of illness, length of illness, age of the child, caregiver demands, and support provided to the family, ill sibling, and healthy sibling. While the experiences of healthy siblings are documented in the literature by parent proxy, literature on healthy siblings self-reported experiences of living with a sibling who has a long-term condition remains scarce. Purpose: This umbrella review aims to synthesize reviews on the self-reported experiences of healthy siblings of children living with a sibling who has a long-term condition. Eligibility criteria: Published peer-reviewed reviews in English language exploring the self-reported experiences of healthy siblings under 24 years old, whose siblings are diagnosed with a long-term condition. Sample: Using a developed search strategy, seven electronic databases (CINAHLPlus, Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Clinical Key, and Google Scholar) were searched from 2018 till December 2023. Eleven reviews met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to narrative synthesis. Results: Four themes (adjusting to changes, wanting to help, living the ups and downs, living the changes), and eight subthemes were generated from the syntheses. Conclusion: This is the first umbrella review undertaken on healthy siblings self-reported experiences of living with a sibling who has a long-term condition. The impact of a long-term condition on healthy siblings of children with a long-term condition suggests a need for healthcare providers and organisations to provide better emotional, psychological, and informational support to healthy siblings and their families. Implications: Findings from this review will inform healthcare providers, organisations, researchers, and policymakers on the development of future clinical practices and research for healthy siblings. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).