AIM: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 is a relatively common, untreatable and invariably fatal neuromuscular disorder of early childhood. Psychosocial care is vital in management of families affected by this disease. There are few studies…
This study was an exploratory inquiry into the role of music therapy for pre-bereaved informal hospice caregivers. Pre-bereavement has been an area of increased scholarly and clinical focus across multiple healthcare fields over the past decade, and…
By employing the phenomenographic approach, the present study explored children's cognitive understanding of and emotional responses to death and bereavement. Participants included 52 Korean, 16 Chinese, and 16 Chinese American children ages 5-6.…
Importance: The death of a close relative is associated with an increased mortality risk among the bereaved, but much less is known about the potential association of the death of a sibling in childhood with mortality in this population. Objective:…
Neonatal death is an unfortunate, yet recurrent incidence. Care of the dying infant is recognised as a care event that both paediatric nurses and midwives will encounter during their professional life. Thus students should be exposed to such subject…
BACKGROUND: Children's books have the potential to facilitate communication about death for children living with a serious illness and for children coping with the death of a loved one. OBJECTIVES: This study examines the content of children's…
AIM: The ability to communicate serious news to patients and families in a caring and compassionate way is a critical skill for physicians. This study explores the impact of a novel communication skills workshop that included bereaved parents in role…
When a child has a terminal diagnosis, the intervention of legacy building is offered as a standard of care in all of the 77 teaching children's hospitals in the United States. Legacy building is a group of activities designed to create tangible…
Background: Historically, the social aspects of death, dying and bereavement have been given insufficient attention by palliative care services; this has had an adverse effect on how patients and their families experience end-of-life and bereavement.…
The death of a child alters the life and health of others immediately and for the rest of their lives. How a child dies influences parents' abilities to continue their role functions as well as siblings' abilities to make and maintain friendships,…
The present study aimed to examine whether bereaved parents “meaning-made”–defined as results of attempts to reduce discrepancies between the meaning assigned to the death of the child and self and world-views—was influenced by their own and their…
The death of a neonate is devastating for all involved. Each year, critically ill neonates present to emergency departments across the United States. These infants require acute medical interventions with a goal of stabilization. Despite these…
Background: CHAS and NHS Lothian undertook a pilot project to review how joint working could enhance neonatal palliative care services' for families and staff. This case illustrates how collaborative working can enhance families' choices and…
OBJECTIVE: To examine associations among parent perceptions of infant symptoms/suffering, parent distress, and decision making about having additional children after an infant's death in the NICU. DESIGN: Mixed-methods pilot study incorporating…
This descriptive qualitative study explored parent experiences related to their infant's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization, end-of-life care, and palliative care consultation. "Life and death in the NICU environment" emerged as the…
It is known that if one partner wants to talk after the loss of a child, while the other does not, the less satisfied they are with the relationship. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of parental relationships following the loss…
Few studies have yet examined subgroups among children (aged 8-18) confronted with the death of a close loved one, characterized by different profiles of symptoms of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and symptoms of bereavement-related posttraumatic…
The authors examined psychosocial outcomes following the first year of bereavement, for 51 family caregivers, including both spouses and offspring. Researchers assessed caregivers during palliative care and again during the second year of…
OBJECTIVES: to understand the family's experience of the child and/or teenager in palliative care and building a representative theoretical model of the process experienced by the family. METHODOLOGY: for this purpose the Symbolic Interactionism and…
BACKGROUND: Caring for the bereaved is an intrinsic part of intensive care practice with family bereavement support an important aspect of the nursing role at end of life. However, reporting on provision of intensive care family bereavement support…
Ana Todorovic's baby, Nadia, died just before birth. Ana says she received excellent care and was told when 37 weeks pregnant that Nadia was not going to survive for long.
