A Systematic Literature Review of the Current State of Knowledge Related to Interventions for Bereaved Parents

Abstract

Aims: The purpose of this systematic literature review is to describe the interventions for bereaved parents, evaluate intervention effectiveness through study methodology rigor, replicability, and theoretical foundations. Methods: We searched MEDLINE via PubMed (1966-2018), CINAHL (1937-present), PsycINFO (1887-present), and Embase (1947-present) using various search words and MeSH terms related to the study purpose. A blinded screening of title/abstract was performed, with conflicting inclusion decisions resolved through group discussions. Matrices for remaining articles were created and discussed among the team. The levels of evidence of the 9 records were rated from very low to high based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation guidelines. Results: Our initial pool included 1025 articles. After the screening of titles/abstracts, 63 articles were retained for full-text reviews. Evaluated based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 9 records met the review criteria. Of the 9 records, 1 was graded as very low, 3 low, and 5 low to moderate. The interventions for bereaved parents varied from using single-model interventions such as expressive arts therapy and telephone support to multimodal interventions that combined resources (ie, peer support, resource packets, and health-care support). Only 1 study explicitly illustrated how its bereavement intervention was designed based on the proposed theoretical model. Conclusions: This review highlights the need for individualized, well-tested, and effective bereavement care interventions to support bereaved parents. In summary, the state of the science on interventions for bereaved parents is poor and much work needs to be done to effectively address the needs of bereaved parents, including both their physical and emotional health needs.

Sounds of silence. The “special grief” of drug-death bereaved parents: a qualitative study

“…murder, suicide, early child death) is associated with serious mental and physical health difficulties (Dyregrov et al 2003;Li et al 2005;Stroebe et al 2017), low levels of health-related quality of life (Song et al 2010) and even an increased risk of early death for the bereaved parent (Li et al 2003). Bereaved parents after unnatural deaths who struggle with griefrelated emotions and reactions can potentially benefit from individualized help provided by public services and support from their social network, helping them to avoid major health problems (Stevenson et al 2017;Dias et al 2019). In order to offer the right kind of help, we need knowledge of the grief they experience.…”

Gender differences in the risk of depressive disorders following the loss of a young child: a nationwide population-based longitudinal study

“…In addition, given that the fathers may be the only breadwinner in the families of deceased children (see Table 1 for the relatively lower employment rate for mothers), the bereaved fathers likely accommodate the child loss with more work (or income) in order to regain the order of life, leaving no time for grief or selfcare. Indeed, we noticed that the fathers who sought treatment for MDD in the year after losing a child was even lower than those with a previous history of MDD (66 vs. 78 in Table 1), indicating potential gap in mental health services for this high-risk group and highlighting the need to implement targeted or tailored intervention [54][55][56].…”

Peer support among parents of children with congenital heart defects: A qualitative analysis of written responses submitted via an online survey

“…The findings in this study suggest that peer support may serve as a complement to professional psychosocial support for parents of children with CHD, even long after the death of their child. However, there is still a need for more research in the field of peer support between parents (Dias et al., 2019; Tully, Shneider, Monaghan, Hilliard, & Streisand, 2017).…”