Bereavement care in Japanese pediatrics: Pediatrician awareness in practice

Abstract

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.