The post-transplantation daily life of the parent-child dyads had four distinct patterns: (i) pre-adolescents who had undergone transplantation during infancy, who had no understanding of the transplant procedure, and whose care was managed by their parent(s) without any problems; (ii) adolescents who were aware that their physical condition had improved after the transplant and who managed and dealt with the situation on their own; (iii) adolescents who were dissatisfied with the transplantation and associated immunosuppression because transplant procedures were perceived as negative or because they could not remember the transplant procedure; and (iv) one participant could not be categorized because their liver function deteriorated post-transplantation and they were registered for re-transplantation. Patterns were identified that characterized the post-transplantation daily life of pre-adolescents/adolescents who underwent liver transplantation, and that of their parents. Further research for post-transplantation parent-child dyads is warranted.
Background
A child's death affects not only family members but also the health‐care professionals involved in patient care. The education system for bereavement care in Japan, however, is not set up in a systematic way, and the care provided is based on the individual experience of the health‐care professional. The aim of this study was to investigate pediatrician awareness of and actual circumstances involved in bereavement care in Japan.
Methods
A qualitative descriptive study was conducted at four facilities in Japan. Data collected using semi‐structured interviews of 11 pediatricians were assessed using inductive qualitative analysis.
Results
Pediatrician recognition of the elements of bereavement care was categorized as follows: (i) developing relationships with families before a child's death is important in bereavement care; (ii) after the child dies, family involvement is left to the doctor's discretion; (iii) coping with a child's death myself through past experience is essential; (iv) doctors involved in a child's death also experience mental burden; and (v) a system for the family's bereavement care must be established. Two categories were established according to actual circumstances involved in bereavement care: (i) attention must be given to the emotions of the families who lost a child; and (ii) doctor involvement with bereaved families depends on doctor awareness and expertise.
Conclusion
Japanese pediatricians provided bereavement care to families who lost their children in a non‐systematic manner. This is necessitates improvement of the self‐care of health‐care professionals with regard to grief by improving bereavement care‐related education. Additionally, health‐care professionals must be trained, and a national‐level provision system must be established to provide high‐quality bereavement care to families who lose a child.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.