How I approach expressing condolences and longitudinal remembering to a family after the death of a child

Weaver, Meaghann S.; Lichtenthal, Wendy G.; Larson, Kara; Wiener, Lori

doi:10.1002/pbc.27489

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Bereavement outreach by a healthcare provider from the child’s treatment team is thus critically important, as it provides not only an opportunity to express condolences and continuity of care but to also respond to any distressing questions about the illness and treatment, to validate the choices made, and to affirm that parents did everything they possibly could have given the circumstances. 64–67…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bereavement outreach by a healthcare provider from the child's treatment team is thus critically important, as it provides not only an opportunity to express condolences and continuity of care but to also respond to any distressing questions about the illness and treatment, to validate the choices made, and to affirm that parents did everything they possibly could have given the circumstances. [64][65][66][67] Psychotherapeutic interventions also have an important role. Torges et al 11 noted that bereavement-related regrets may be addressed through cognitive strategies, such as reappraising, self-forgiveness, changing perception of control, and challenging hindsight bias.…”

Section: What This Study Addsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Prior research has demonstrated that the presence of regret and unfinished business is associated with poorer adjustment in bereavement. Though there is a growing literature on these constructs among caregivers of adult patients, the literature on regret and unfinished business in bereaved parents has been limited. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer, as well as their associations with caregiving experiences and prolonged grief. Design: This was a cross-sectional mixed methods study that utilized self-report questionnaires with open-ended items. Setting/Participants: The multisite study took place at a tertiary cancer hospital and pediatric cancer clinical research institution. Participants were 118 parents (mothers = 82, fathers = 36) who lost a child aged 6 months to 25 years to cancer between 6 months and 6 years prior. Results: Results showed that 73% of the parents endorsed regret and 33% endorsed unfinished business, both of which were more common among mothers than fathers ( p ⩽ 0.05). Parents were on average moderately distressed by their regrets and unfinished business, and both regret-related and unfinished business–related distress were associated with distress while caregiving and prolonged grief symptoms. Conclusion: Findings have implications for how providers work with families, including increasing treatment decision-making support, supporting parents in speaking to their child about illness, and, in bereavement, validating choices made. Grief interventions that use cognitive-behavioral and meaning-centered approaches may be particularly beneficial.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What This Study Addsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Today, palliative care is given to patients from various age groups and for different illnesses. The difficult conditions in which the dying patients or patients with chronical diseases and their relatives go through might cause health professionals to feel themselves desperate in providing healthcare to them, just like a family mourning for their child would feel [10]. It was reported that when the risk of losing a family member emerges, it influences all members negatively [11].…”

Section: Palliative Care and The Patient's "Compelling" Medical Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative Care Ethics: Medicine’s Duty to Help

Keleş¹

2019

Palliative Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In palliative care, death, which is a part of human nature, is considered as a normal process. This type of care is concerned with the quality of life rather than its duration. In this context, the basic aim is to perform practices to relieve the patient in a way that does not raise any ethical suspicion. Within this framework, it can be said that palliative care is a requirement of medicine's duty to help. The aim of this chapter is to draw attention to the importance of ethical values in the configuration of palliative care services for patients who are in the last period of their life or the ones who have terminal illnesses. In palliative care, it is essential to arrange care services in a manner that does not raise any ethical doubt about the measures taken to increase beneficence both to the patients who are in the last days of their life and to their relatives. In this study, "The Directive for Implementing Procedures of Palliative Care Services" prepared by the Ministry of Health in Turkey in 2015 will be evaluated in terms of ethics.

show abstract

“…6 Parental grief may also be exacerbated by secondary losses, including loss of the relationship with the child's medical team. 7 Bereaved parents identify their child's medical team as an ongoing part of their grief journey and report the importance of maintaining these connections past the death of their child. 8 Hospital-based or staff-engaged bereavement care services help families feel more supported and may lead to improved familial coping.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actual Solidarity through Virtual Support: A Pilot Descriptive Study of an Online Support Group for Bereaved Parents

Weaver

Jurgens

Neumann

et al. 2021

Journal of Palliative Medicine

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Hospital-based support for bereaved parents is regarded as best practice. Little is known about parental perceptions or programmatic potential of online grief support. Objectives: To learn from bereaved parent participants' experiences with an online support group to include perceptions of technology acceptance and group communication dynamics. Design: Descriptive study reporting on an eight-week online bereavement support group offered during summer 2020. Subjects and Setting: Inclusive of six bereaved parent participants in the Midwestern United States. Measurements: Post-intervention survey consisting of 49-items with the Technology Acceptance Model and Other Communicated Perspective-Taking Ability instruments embedded. Results: Five bereaved mothers and one father (mean age 32 years) residing an average 126 miles from hospital participated in an online support group in a timeframe seven months to one year from the death of their child. Intensity of grief emotion (5/6 parents) and physical distance (4/6 parents) were notable barriers to in-person visits to the hospital, where bereavement support was to be offered. Parents uniformly reported feeling benefit from the program and satisfaction with the program. Respondents self-reported gaining improved communication (4/6 parents), coping (3/6 parents), peer support (3/6 parents), education (3/6 parents), and emotional expression (3/6 parents). Mean scores on the technology acceptance and communication experiences scales were 4.7/5. The virtual format was an acceptable modality with perceived supportive interpersonal communication dynamics. Conclusion: Pediatric palliative care teams may consider the offering of online bereavement support groups. Further research is warranted on the impact and outcomes of online bereavement support groups for bereaved parents.

show abstract

How I approach expressing condolences and longitudinal remembering to a family after the death of a child

Cited by 21 publications

References 15 publications

Regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study

Regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study

Palliative Care Ethics: Medicine’s Duty to Help

Actual Solidarity through Virtual Support: A Pilot Descriptive Study of an Online Support Group for Bereaved Parents

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About