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 Background. Parents’ health literacy is an important key factor that influences how they are able to understand their child’s health status and needs, and how to participate in the care when their child needs to be in hospital.  Parents are the most important care givers, who facilitate ongoing growth and development of their children, giving protection and support. How well parents are able to care and support their child’s care will be influenced by their health literacy. Further, parents’ experiences of participation in their hospitalized child’s care are not investigated in Thailand, comparing with other international studies.

The aim. The aim of this study is to explore parents’ health literacy and their experiences of participation in their child’s care during hospitalization.  The study will be conducted in four pediatric units at Phrapokklao Hospital, a central hospital in Chanthaburi, Thailand.

Method. A descriptive qualitative research design will be used. Thirty biological Thai parents, whose children stay in the pediatric units, will be interviewed. A demographic data sheet will be used to obtain background information on characteristics of the parents.  A semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions will be used.  The questions include general questions to grasp parents’ health literacy, to specific questions experiences of participation in the child’s care. A content analysis, developed by Graneheim and Lundman, will be used.  Ethical considerations have to be made according to informed consent and voluntarism. Consent is given by the Ethical committee in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand.

Findings. During the conference preliminary results will be presented as generated concepts of understanding of the Thai parents’ health literacy, as well as generated categories of parents’ experiences of participation in the child’s care.

Clinical implications. Health literacy and experiences of participation is cultural sensitive. Health care providers in different cultures need to understand parents’ health literacy to develop strategies to facilitate and improve their participation in the care of their children according to the rights in the Child convention.