Objectives: This study will guide health services by identifying the mental, physical, and social conditions associated with children's quality of life to better understand the experiences of pediatric kidney transplant recipients and help them lead better lives in adulthood. Encouragement to express their experiences with their own words and drawings can help to improve care practices and better understand their perspectives. Our aim was to determine the experiences and problems of pediatric kidney transplant recipients through Mandala art therapy.
Materials and methods: For this study, we adopted a descriptive phenomenological design and thematic analysis approach based on the philosophy of Edmund Husserl. The sample will consist of kidney transplant recipients aged 12 to 18 years admitted to the pediatric nephrology polyclinic of a university hospital in southern Turkey. Data will be collected using a semi-structured interview form. We will conduct each interview and Mandala drawing activity face-to-face. The study has been approved by the ethics committee of the university.
Results and conclusions: This study, to our knowledge, is the first to focus on Mandala art therapy and the experiences of pediatric kidney transplant recipients and what it feels like to grow up with a new kidney. Our results will contribute to the literature and will help researchers understand what pediatric kidney transplant recipients are going through and what it means for them to live with a new kidney. Mandala art therapy can help pediatric kidney transplant recipients express their feelings and thoughts that they cannot otherwise express.