‘Getting on with life’: resilience and normalcy in adolescents living with chronic illness

This paper shows the ways in which resilience operates with adolescents whose lives have been marked by a significant health condition. It is based on a qualitative study that followed 31 adolescents, dealing with chronic illness, across 3 years of their lives. The study placed the adolescents at the centre of the research process, allowing them to articulate their experiences and perceptions of themselves, both visually and verbally. A complex portrayal of risk and resilience emerged as the young people spoke about the challenges they faced. Described by many around them as resilient, the research found that one key component of this was the participants desire to live lives as normal as possible even when faced with management challenges associated with their health conditions. Even though many described ongoing disconnection with school, education still played an important role in their life goal setting.