Bereavement support effectiveness for parents of infants and children: a systematic review

Ainscough, Tom; Fraser, Lorna; Taylor, Joanna; Beresford, Bryony; Booth, Alison L.

doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001823

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Once again, they concluded that the lack of rigorous evidence precluded any formal recommendation about interventions for bereaved parents. Most recently, in 2019, another systematic review by Ainscough et al also looked at the effectiveness of bereavement support for parents of infants and children [33]. Of the 24,556 records assessed, 9 articles met the inclusion criteria.…”

Section: Supportive Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief and Bereavement in Parents After the Death of a Child in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

McNeil

Namisango

Hunt³

et al. 2020

Children

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While great strides have been made in improving childhood mortality, millions of children die each year with significant health-related suffering. More than 98% of these children live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Efforts have been made to increase access to pediatric palliative care (PPC) services to address this suffering in LMICs through policy measures, educational initiatives, and access to essential medicines. However, a core component of high-quality PPC that has been relatively neglected in LMICs is grief and bereavement support for parents after the death of their child. This paper reviews the current literature on parental grief and bereavement in LMICs. This includes describing bereavement research in high-income countries (HICs), including its definition, adverse effect upon parents, and supportive interventions, followed by a review of the literature on health-related grief and bereavement in LMICs, specifically around: perinatal death, infant mortality, infectious disease, interventions used, and perceived need. More research is needed in grief and bereavement of parents in LMICs to provide them with the support they deserve within their specific cultural, social, and religious context. Additionally, these efforts in LMICs will help advance the field of parental grief and bereavement research as a whole.

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Section: Supportive Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief and Bereavement in Parents After the Death of a Child in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

McNeil

Namisango

Hunt³

et al. 2020

Children

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“…9 A range of interventions for bereaved parents exist including pharmacotherapy, counseling, psychotherapy, and systems-oriented interventions. [10][11][12][13][14] However, studies involving bereaved parents identified additional sources of support requested by parents and families. [15][16][17] These services included structured bereavement support, mailings, memorial events, and support groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A range of interventions for bereaved parents exist including pharmacotherapy, counseling, psychotherapy, and systems‐oriented interventions 10‐14 . However, studies involving bereaved parents identified additional sources of support requested by parents and families 15‐17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“You are not alone”: Connecting through a bereaved parent mentor program for parents whose child died of cancer

et al. 2022

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Background Bereavement after the death of a child is devastating and associated with worse physical and psychosocial well‐being in parents. Evidence suggests that parents desire and benefit from support provided by other bereaved parents. To foster this peer support, an institutional peer‐to‐peer mentorship program for bereaved parents was established, through which trained bereaved parent mentors offer support for newly bereaved parents. Methods Using a retrospective cohort design, we describe the characteristics of participants of the Bereaved Parent Mentorship program. Trained bereaved parent mentors documented encounters with newly bereaved parent mentees using a secure internet‐based form. Mentors summarized each encounter including any concerns or need for professional psychosocial support. Descriptive statistics were used to describe mentor and mentee characteristics; free text from encounter summaries was qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. Results A total of 1368 documented encounters occurred between 150 mentees and 39 mentors from January 1, 2014 to February 29, 2020. Only seven encounters (0.5%) were flagged as serious concern necessitating professional psychosocial support. Four key themes in the encounters between mentors and mentees emerged, including: descriptions of the grief experience, ways in which a mentor supported their mentee, challenges the mentor experienced in supporting the mentee, and personal benefit gained by the mentor from supporting their mentee. Conclusion This structured Bereaved Parent Mentorship program fostered rich interactions between bereaved parent participants, with very few encounters requiring professional assistance. Future research will assess the impact of bereaved mentor programs on resilience and psychosocial, physical, and functional well‐being of parents.

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“…5,14 Other systematic reviews have focused on the effectiveness of formal bereavement interventions by professionals which essentially found a lack of clarity about which formal support/services are useful due to significant research issues. 15,16 The aim of this scoping review is to clarify from the standpoint of bereaved parents what are considered helpful and unhelpful characteristics of informal support given by the support network of bereaved parents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuable Informal Bereavement Support Strategies for Bereaved Parents of Stillborn, Young Children, and Adult Children: A Scoping Review

2022

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Background: Informal support of a bereaved parent is common after the loss of a child (stillborn, young or adult child); however, it is not clear which aspects of informal support were perceived to be helpful by the bereaved parent. The aim of this scoping review is to clarify from the standpoint of bereaved parents what are considered helpful and unhelpful characteristics of informal support given by the support network of bereaved parents. Methods: A comprehensive search of databases from 2000 to April 20, 2020 was conducted for clinical studies published in English on informal bereavement support of adult bereaved parents of stillborn to adult children; 52 articles met criteria for the scoping review. The databases included Ovid MEDLINE(R) and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, and Daily, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Ovid PsycINFO, and Scopus. Results: Specific supportive strategies reported by parents as helpful more frequently included talking with other supportive persons felt to be supportive, meeting another person with a similar type of loss, and a loss-specific peer support group. Other support included peer support groups in general, tangible aid, talking with the spouse about the child who died and/or accepting each other's different grieving styles, and remembrance gestures. Specific supportive strategies reported by parents as unhelpful more frequently included feeling of stigma or blame due to type of death or feeling that the type of death was not considered equal to other deaths and platitudes & insensitive comments. Other unhelpful support included talking with others felt to be unsupportive about discussing the loss, others stating a time limit to grief, others actively avoiding or stopping all communication with the bereaved parent, and one spouse not accepting the grieving style of the other or the spouse not willing to discuss the loss. Conclusion: Support focused on supportive verbal and nonverbal communication towards the bereaved parent and tangible aid were noted to be helpful informal support. Feeling stigma for or judged by others due to the type of death or the death not being considered equal (such as in deaths due to suicide and stillborn deaths) to other types of deaths as well as informational support (utilization of clichés/platitudes, advice giving, statements about the process and end point of grieving) were noted to be unhelpful informal support.

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Bereavement support effectiveness for parents of infants and children: a systematic review

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Grief and Bereavement in Parents After the Death of a Child in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Grief and Bereavement in Parents After the Death of a Child in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“You are not alone”: Connecting through a bereaved parent mentor program for parents whose child died of cancer

Valuable Informal Bereavement Support Strategies for Bereaved Parents of Stillborn, Young Children, and Adult Children: A Scoping Review

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