Death of a child: Perspective of Chinese mothers in Singapore

Mun, Sylvia; Ow, Rosaleen

doi:10.1080/15426432.2017.1319781

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…4 Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, Portland, Oregon, USA. 5 Club Rainbow Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. 6 Centre for Population Health Sciences, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.…”

Section: Abbreviationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although childhood deaths in Singapore (age < 19) decreased over the years to 245 reported in 2016 [3], it is worrying that deaths due to chronic conditions climbed from 120 in 2014 to 152 in 2016 [4]. A child's death shatters parents' assumption that children will never die before their parents, and when they do, it invalidates parental status and roles [5]. Moreover, child loss is associated with disenfranchised grief, that is, the magnitude of loss that mourning parents experience is not recognized by society [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore

et al. 2020

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Background: In 2016, over 6.6 million children died globally, and 245 children died in Singapore. Chronic illnesses are prevalent causes of child mortality around the world. Despite growing research that examines the lived experience of parents bereaved by their child's chronic life-threatening illness, there is no such study within the Asian context. Methods: To bridge this knowledge gap, meaning-oriented, strength-focused interviews were conducted with 25 parental units (i.e. 6 couples, 13 lone mothers, 4 lone fathers, and 2 primary parental figures) who lost their child to chronic life-threatening illness in Singapore (N = 31), including those of Chinese (n = 17), Malay (n = 10) and Indian ethnicities (n = 4), between August 2017 and April 2018. Results: Data analysis adhering to the grounded theory approach revealed 7 themes and 25 sub-themes that were organized into a Trauma-to-Transformation Model of Parental Bereavement. This model shows the major milestones in participants' lived experience of their child's chronic life-threatening illness and death, starting from the diagnosis of their child's chronic life-threatening illness and the subsequent emotional turmoil (Theme 1), the mourning of their child's death and the losses which accompanied the death (Theme 3) and participants' experience of posttraumatic growth through reflection of their journey of caregiving and child loss (Theme 5). The model further describes the deliberate behaviors or 'rituals' that helped participants to regain power over their lives (Theme 2), sustain an intimate bond with their child beyond death (Theme 4), and transcend their loss by deriving positive outcomes from their experience (Theme 6). Finally, the model denotes that the lived experiences and well-being of participants were embedded within the health-and-social-care ecosystem, and in turn impacted by it (Theme 7). Conclusion: These themes and their corresponding sub-themes are discussed, with recommendations for enhancing culturally sensitive support services for grieving Asian parents around the globe.

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Section: Abbreviationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore

et al. 2020

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show abstract

“…reported in 2016 [3], it is worrying that deaths due to chronic conditions climbed from 120 in 2014 to 152 in 2016 [4]. A child's death shatters parents' assumption that children will never die before their parents, and when they do, it invalidates parental status and roles [5]. Moreover, child loss is associated with disenfranchised grief, that is, the magnitude of loss that mourning parents experience is not recognized by society [6].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma to Transformation: The Lived Experience of Bereaved Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses in Singapore

Dutta

Tan-Ho

Choo

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: In 2016, over 6.6 million children died globally, and 245 children died in Singapore. Chronic illnesses are prevalent causes of child mortality around the world. Despite growing research that examines the lived experience of parents bereaved by their child’s chronic life-threatening illness, there is no such study within the Asian context. Methods: To bridge this knowledge gap, meaning-oriented, strength-focused interviews were conducted with 25 parental units (i.e. 6 couples, 13 lone mothers, 4 lone fathers, and 2 primary parental figures) who lost their child to chronic life-threatening illness in Singapore (N=31), including those of Chinese (n=17), Malay (n=10) and Indian ethnicities (n=4), between August 2017 and April 2018. Results: Data analysis adhering to the grounded theory approach revealed 7 themes and 25 sub-themes that were organized into a Trauma-to-Transformation Model of Parental Bereavement. This model shows the major milestones in participants’ lived experience of their child’s chronic life-threatening illness and death, starting from the diagnosis of their child’s chronic life-threatening illness and the subsequent emotional turmoil (Theme 1), the mourning of their child’s death and the losses which accompanied the death (Theme 3) and participants’ experience of posttraumatic growth through reflection of their journey of caregiving and child loss (Theme 5). The model further describes the deliberate behaviors or ‘rituals’ that aided participants to regain power over their lives (Theme 2), helped them to sustain an intimate bond with their child beyond death (Theme 4), and aided participants’ transcendence of their loss by deriving positive outcomes from their experience (Theme 6). Finally, the model denotes that the lived experiences and well-being of participants were embedded within the health-and-social-care ecosystem, and in turn impacted by it (Theme 7). Conclusion: These themes and their corresponding sub-themes are discussed, with recommendations for enhancing culturally-sensitive support services for grieving Asian parents around the globe.

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“…The cause of this 20% rise is primarily child death due to chronic conditions, which climbed from 120 in 2014 to 152 in 2016 [5]. A child's death shatters the assumption that children do not die before their parents, thus invalidating parents' self-concept and social roles [6]. Furthermore, the experience of child loss is associated with disenfranchised grief [7] and greater risk of physical, psychological and social health problems among bereaved parents, especially in the initial months of bereavement [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Narrative E-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses: Protocol for an Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial

Ho¹,

Dutta

Tan-Ho

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Conventionally, psycho-socio-emotional interventions for parents of children with chronic life-threatening illness begin post child loss. Evidence indicates pre-loss interventions addressing anticipatory grief can improve psycho-socio-emotional well-being and grief outcomes among family caregivers of dying patients, but no known intervention addresses the unique psycho-socio-emotional needs of Asian parents facing their child’s chronic life-threatening illness. Globally, palliative care strives to holistically support patients and their caregivers at the end-of-life, but inadequacies exist both globally and locally in pediatric palliative care and parental bereavement support services. Aim: A novel evidence-based Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) is developed to address this gap. NeW-I is a strength-focused, meaning-oriented and therapist-facilitated mobile app and web-based counseling platform that aims to enhance quality of life, spiritual well-being, hope and perceived social support, and reduce depressive symptoms, caregiver burden and risk of complicated grief among parents facing their child’s chronic life-threatening illness. Methods: The design of NeW-I is informed by an international systematic review and a Singapore-based qualitative inquiry on the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illness. Together with four major local pediatric palliative care providers, NeW-I is implemented in Singapore as an open-label pilot randomized controlled trial with 66 parents and supplemented with a built-in accessibility and feasibility study. Discussion: NeW-I aspires to improve psycho-socio-emotional well-being of parents facing their child’s chronic life-threatening illness through a structured cyber-counseling platform, thereby enhancing holistic pediatric palliative care and parental bereavement support services. Findings from this pilot study can inform large-scale implementation and evaluation of NeW-I in Singapore and globally.

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Death of a child: Perspective of Chinese mothers in Singapore

Cited by 11 publications

References 20 publications

Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore

Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore

Trauma to Transformation: The Lived Experience of Bereaved Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses in Singapore

A Novel Narrative E-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses: Protocol for an Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial

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