Pediatric Bereavement Services: A Survey of Practices at Children's Hospitals

Abstract

The death of a child can be an overwhelming experience for parents. Hospitals are often the first place to get information or to seek services, yet little is known about what types of bereavement services, information, or support are typically available. This study was designed to identify types of bereavement support offered to parents whose child died at a pediatric hospital, to ascertain who provides support and to see how those services are institutionally organized and funded. The investigation gathered data using an online, custom-designed survey completed by bereavement providers at 122 of the 188 pediatric hospitals invited to participate. This article summarizes the ways hospitals follow-up with families, from provision of educational materials to a menu of support services including memorial services, counseling, and community referrals.

Bereaved parents’ health outcomes following the death of their child.

“…Our results, given the cost of prolonged grief disorder in terms of loss of productivity due to absenteeism and presenteeism, and its association with health outcomes, provide some support for a proactive approach to set parents up to “grieve well” and maximize opportunities to experience such growth (Fox et al, 2014). Few pediatric hospital bereavement programs provide direct care beyond 2 years (Borgman et al, 2014). Programs providing a “transition” for bereaved parents from hospital-based to community-based resources may maximize parents’ opportunities to access resources that would promote PTG.…”

Understanding lived experiences of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening Illness : towards a culture-specific and meaning-oriented narrative E-writing intervention (NeW-I) for anticipatory grief support in Singapore

“…Hospital-based intervention programs generally take the form of ongoing communication and connection with bereaved parents through activities such as contacting of the bereaved family, visiting the funeral home, psycho-educational meetings with parents and their social support network, periodic sending of letters or notes and phone calls on the deceased child's birth and/or death anniversary; evidence indicates that most parents are appreciative of such efforts from their late child's healthcare team (Berrett-Abebe et al, 2017;Borgman et al, 2014;Contro & Sourkes, 2012;Oliver et al, 2001). Other intervention services have focused on the couple relationship post-bereavement, thereby helping couples to better understand each other and express their grief-related feelings and thoughts more effectively to each other as well as to other members of their family (Reilly-Smorawski et al, 2002).…”