The experiences of parents and children in fostering and adoptive families

This thesis consists of two studies. <br><br><b>The empirical study </b>investigates the lived experiences of concurrent caring in Northern Ireland using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).<br><br> The <b>second study </b>consists of a<b> </b>qualitative evidence synthesis<b> </b>exploring the experiences of the birth children of foster carers of living in fostering families, using thematic synthesis. <br><br>The resulting themes and implications for research and practice are discussed in each.<br>