On The Child's Own Initiative: Parents Communicate With Their Dying Child About Death

On The Child's Own Initiative: Parents Communicate With Their Dying Child About Death

Jalmsell L; Kontio T; Stein M; Henter JI; Kreicbergs U

DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2014.913086

Death Studies

2015

Adolescent; Adult; Attitude To Death; Behavioral Research; Child; Child Behavior; Child Care/psychology; Child Preschool; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Neoplasms/psychology; Neoplasms/therapy; Palliative Care/psychology; Parent-child Relations; Parents/psychology; Qualitative Research; Sweden; Terminally Ill/psychology

Open and honest communication has been identified as an important factor in providing good palliative care. However, there is no easy solution to if, when, and how parents and a dying child should communicate about death. This article reports how bereaved parents communicated about death with their child, dying from a malignancy. Communication was often initiated by the child and included communication through narratives such as fairy tales and movies and talking more directly about death itself. Parents also reported that their child prepared for death by giving instructions about his or her grave or funeral and giving away toys.

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