Parents’ experiences of a Family Support Program when a parent has incurable cancer

Bugge, Kari E; Helseth, Sølvi; Darbyshire, Philip

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02871.x

Cited by 75 publications

(181 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…[31] Grossman highlighted that family support programmes, supportive and nurturing mothers, and no exposure to parents who are mentally ill, may help children to handle the double loss and bereavement better and reduce the risk of developing psychological problems. [29] Other studies, such as Bugge (2009), confirmed that when one of the parents is critically ill in divorced families, the parents' conflicts are reduced when they attend family support programmes, and that professionals may act as buffers between the ex-partners, and between the critically ill parent and the child. [26] Children need to be in dialogue with other family members, but Bugge showed that the children also need support, without having to think about family members' reactions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The reference lists of these articles were checked for any other relevant studies, resulting in one more study by Bugge, Helseth and Darbyshire. [25,26] Eleven studies published from 1995 to 2009, and conducted in the USA (n = 7); UK (n = 1); Australia (n = 1) and Norway (n = 2) were finally included in the current integrative review. Six of the studies used a qualitative approach, whereas the other five studies were based on quantitative methods.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parental divorce and parental death - An integrative systematic review of children’s double bereavement

Marcussen

Thuen²,

Poul

et al. 2015

Clinical Nursing Studies

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The aim of this review was to identify research on children and adolescents who experience double bereavement, i.e. the experience of loss through parental divorce followed by either parental death or critical illness with imminent death. This knowledge may identify evidence to underpin knowledge and practice for nurses and other health professionals, so they can intervene with these children and adolescents more efficaciously. An integrative systematic review was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO. The results show four major themes: Complexity in their experiences of double bereavement; challenges in both custodial and non-custodial parental death; risk of mental health problems, and the need of support and interventions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental divorce and parental death - An integrative systematic review of children’s double bereavement

Marcussen

Thuen²,

Poul

et al. 2015

Clinical Nursing Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When parents wish to explain the illness they may not do it because they may not know how to tell them about the illness. On the other hand, children may find it hard to talk openly with parents about their thoughts and feelings concerning cancer because they can think they will increase their distress and because they may not know how to carry on this communication [3,11,12]. So it's very important to help children and parents to communicate with one another about the illness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So the parent can have more difficulties in giving so much attention to the children as in the past and the children's needs may go unfulfilled [2]. A lot of studies indicate, as a consequence, that children of parents with cancer are at increased risk of developing psychological problems such as anxiety and mood disorders, psychosomatic problems, worsening of scholastic performance and difficulties in maintaining concentration [3][4][5][6]. They can also develop more aggressive behaviors with other children or with parents and feelings of guilt and shame.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies focused on the efficacy of an open communication with children about their parent's illness to reduce distress [3,10]. But, on the other hand, actually several studies showed that parents often may be reluctant to talk openly with children about cancer because they are afraid of frightening them and so they think that if they don't tell them anything about the illness they will protect their children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to Explain the Parent's Cancer to their Children: A Specific Intervention to Enhance Communication Inside the Family

Gallina¹,

Mazza²

2016

Clinics Mother Child Health

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Objective: This article describes a multidisciplinary intervention dedicated to patients with cancer and with underage children. It is well known that children of severely ill parents can develop emotional and behavioral problems. Different studies underline the efficacy of an open communication with children about the parent's illness to reduce distress but also the difficulties of parents to explain it to their children. The intervention, realized at San Gerardo Hospital, aims to inform or improve the children's knowledge of their parent's cancer, and to open communication about cancer inside the family.Methods: This intervention is characterized by the integration of a psychologist and a pediatric hematooncologist and by the direct involvement of children. After the fact-finding parents sessions, the pediatric hematooncologist and the psychologist meet children in specific settings, without parents present, to describe, with the support of images and metaphors, the parent's cancer and to understand children's needs or fears. In particular the pediatric hemato-oncologyst uses the flowered garden metaphor to explain to children the parent's illness and the treatments. Then the clinicians share the content of the previous sessions with parents. Counseling sessions to parents are also organized to increase the parental competence and the sharing of cancer-related concerns in the family. In addition, a specific questionnaire has been realized to evaluate children's psychological conditions after the intervention, family atmosphere and parents' satisfaction.Results: 36 families and 53 children have participated in the project up to now. The results of the questionnaires have underlined the absence of psychopathological symptoms in children, the presence of more collaboration in the families and more possibilities in the family to have an open communication about the cancer. In addition, most of the parents reported a considerable satisfaction with the intervention. Conclusion:Support for open communication in the family about cancer should be acknowledged as an important aspect of oncology care to reduce family stress.

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Selective sharing: The impact of patterns of communication in young people experiencing maternal cancer

Rodríguez

2018

Cancer Reports

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Background: Adolescents that experience parental cancer can have significant difficulties and may be at a greater risk of emotional and behavioural problems; however, some studies have found that this experience can also be empowering and can promote positive growth. Open communication specifically has been associated with coping and less psychological distress in adolescents experiencing parental cancer.Aims: The aim of this study is to identify communication patterns in adolescents that faced maternal cancer to provide recommendations for practice on how best to support adolescents at this challenging time.Methods: Adolescents (n = 15) completed semistructured interviews with the main researcher to explore their experiences at the time of maternal cancer. Specifically, this study is a qualitative secondary thematic analysis. Results: The term "selective sharing" was coined to characterise adolescent communication patterns, as they selected who they wished to talk to and how much information about maternal illness they shared. Barriers for adolescent open communication included perceived unavailability of their mothers to talk, fear, geographical separation from their families, previous family communication patterns, and the time since maternal diagnosis. Benefits of open communication included access to affection, support and information, as well as validation of their emotions and improved coping. Adolescents also provided recommendations to peers and practitioners based on their own experiences. Conclusions: Adolescent communication patterns need to be evaluated as this can impact on their ability to cope with maternal cancer diagnosis. Practitioners can facilitate and encourage open communication, including both factual information about cancer and the emotions and thoughts adhered to this experience for adolescents, mothers, friends, and their families to support them at this challenging time.

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Parents’ experiences of a Family Support Program when a parent has incurable cancer

Cited by 75 publications

References 23 publications

Parental divorce and parental death - An integrative systematic review of children’s double bereavement

Parental divorce and parental death - An integrative systematic review of children’s double bereavement

How to Explain the Parent's Cancer to their Children: A Specific Intervention to Enhance Communication Inside the Family

Selective sharing: The impact of patterns of communication in young people experiencing maternal cancer

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