Parental Perspectives of Communication at the End of Life at a Pediatric Oncology Institution

Title

Parental Perspectives of Communication at the End of Life at a Pediatric Oncology Institution

Creator

Snaman JM; Torres C; Duffy B; Levine DR; Gibson DV; Baker JN

Publisher

Journal Of Palliative Medicine

Date

2016

Description

BACKGROUND: The interaction of health care providers and hospital staff with patients and families at the end of life affects the parental grief experience. Both verbal and nonverbal communication are key components of this interaction. OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to explore the communication between hospital staff members and patients and families at the time of patients' health decline near the end of life. METHODS: Twelve bereaved parents participated in a focus group. Semantic content analysis was used to analyze the transcript. RESULTS: Parents' responses to the prompt about typical ways the medical team communicated yielded 109 codes, which were grouped into 12 themes. The most common themes were "patient inclusion" and "explanation of medical plan," both used in 17% of responses. Responses to the prompt about positive and negative aspects of communication generated 208 codes, yielding 15 different themes. The most common theme about positive communication was the "strong relationship between family and staff." The theme "variations in care with a negative impact" was used most frequently in describing negative communication. CONCLUSION: This study helps to identify techniques that should be used by clinicians as they work with children with cancer and their families, particularly including patients in treatment decisions, ongoing relationship building, communicating with caring and empathy, using an interdisciplinary team for additional support, and pairing bad news with a plan of action.
2016-03

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Snaman JM; Torres C; Duffy B; Levine DR; Gibson DV; Baker JN, “Parental Perspectives of Communication at the End of Life at a Pediatric Oncology Institution,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/14542.