Supporting the Family After the Death of a Child

Wender, Esther H.; Siegel, Benjamin S.; Dobbins, Mary I.; Garner, Andrew S.; McGuinn, Laura; Pascoe, John M.; Wood, David L.; Yogman, Michael W.

doi:10.1542/peds.2012-2772

Cited by 56 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Health professionals and others involved in a child’s death are confronted with their own emotions and fears. This may influence the way they approach the parents of a deceased child [23]. The care, or the lack of care, that parents receive around the time of death has a great impact on the adjustment process and well-being of the parents in the long-term [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do parents experience support after the death of their child?

Gijzen

L’Hoir²,

Boere-Boonekamp

et al. 2016

BMC Pediatr

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Background: A child's death is an enormous tragedy for both the parents and other family members. Support for the parents can be important in helping them to cope with the loss of their child. In the Netherlands little is known about parents' experiences of the support they receive after the death of their child. The purpose of this study is to determine what support parents in the Netherlands receive after the death of their child and whether the type of care they receive meets their needs. Method: Parents who lost a child during pregnancy, labour or after birth (up to the age of two) were eligible for participation. They were recruited from three parents' associations. Sixty-four parents participated in four online focus group discussions. Data on background characteristics were gathered through an online questionnaire. SPSS was used to analyse the questionnaires and Atlas ti. was used for the focus group discussions. Results: Of the 64 participating parents, 97% mentioned the emotional support they received after the death of their child. This kind of support was generally provided by family, primary care professionals and their social network. Instrumental and informational support, which respectively 80% and 61% of the parents reported receiving, was mainly provided by secondary care professionals. Fifty-two per cent of the parents in this study reported having received insufficient emotional support. Shortcomings in instrumental and informational support were experienced by 25% and 19% of the parents respectively. Parental recommendations were directed at ongoing support and the provision of more information. Conclusion: To optimise the way Dutch professionals respond to a child's death, support initiated by the professional should be provided repeatedly after the death of a child. Parents appreciated follow-up contacts with professionals at key moments in which they were asked whether they needed support and what kind of support they would like to receive.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do parents experience support after the death of their child?

Gijzen

L’Hoir²,

Boere-Boonekamp

et al. 2016

BMC Pediatr

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“…Social work staff recognised the importance of this follow-up and ongoing connection with the hospital in order for parents to ask any unanswered questions and to feel supported by those who shared the experience of their child's death. Research clearly identifies the importance of this follow-up (Cook, White, Ross-Russell 2002;Laakso, Paunonen-Ilmonen2002;Milberg, Olsson, Jakobson, Olsson &Friedrichsen 2008;Wender 2012), yet none of the parents in the author's 221 study received this follow-up. Studies show that the majority of families express a desire for follow up, particularly from a staff member who had the most contact with their child.…”

Section: Linking Support and Families -After-hospital Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When this anticipatory grief is absent as is the case in a sudden death, parents may experience more severe and often complicated grief as the sense of shock and helplessness overwhelm them (Lang, Gottlieb 1993;Miller 2003). Further complications may arise when the death has an element of blame attached; a stigmatised death such as death by AIDS or drowning suggests that the person or the carer could have prevented the death in some way (Dyregov, Nordanger, Dyregov 2003;Freeman 2005;Wender 2012). …”

Section: "It Has Been Said That No Parent Ever Gets Over the Grief Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Appropriate bereavement intervention and timely support may help minimise/mitigate the development of the physical and emotional conditions linked to the sudden death of a child (Walsh, Curry 2008;Wender 2012). Colville and Pearce (2012) conducted a longitudinal study with parents whose children had been in paediatric intensive care.…”

Section: Grief Intervention For Parents Of Deceased Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Medical and social work staff interviewed indicated the limitations of the support available when a child dies in aQueensland Emergency Department. Parents require two levels of support from the hospital; the first being the immediate in-hospital/ED care and bereavement support; the second being a connection beyond the time at hospital once the parents return home (Laakso, PaunonenIlmonen 2002;Wender 2012). Whilst some parents expressed gratitude for the caring 219 responses from the hospital staff, some also reported a range of concerns from lack of support in the ED and the absence of follow-up once they had left the hospital.…”

Section: Linking Support and Families -Support From The Hospitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Psycho-social Impact of fatal Child Drowning in Queensland and the Availability and Use of Support

Macintyre¹

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This thesis examines the impact of fatal child (0-18 years) drowning in Queensland, Australia, and the supports available to parents following the death of their child. Using a social constructionist qualitative approach, two sets of participants were interviewed: bereaved parents and service providers. The key areas addressed in this research relate to the experiences of parents following their child's death and the benefits and limitations of community and professional support available to them.Bereavement and bereavement support related to an unintentional child death such as drowning have different elements to other child deaths. There is a dearth of literature that examines optimum support for families who experience a fatal child immersion.Fourteen Queensland parents were interviewed about their experiences following the death of their child, the support services available to and accessed by them, and opportunities for improvement within these services. Seventeen service providers were interviewed about their experiences in dealing with parents of children who had drowned, and the support services offered. Data were thematically analysed. Participants highlighted how life changed forever the day their child drowned. Parents' emotional, physical and spiritual states were compromised and some parents also experienced negative changes in their financial situation. Recurrent fundamental themes were expressed by participants in relation to their overall wellbeing. These were physical and/or emotional health; their sense of identity and the impact on their identity of their perceived failure as protector for their child, surviving children, and spouse; the nature and importance of ongoing relationships with immediate and extended family, friends and colleagues; the importance of continuing to honour their child; and the impact of their child's death on work and finances. Service providers described their specific roles in providing services to parents of fatally drowned children, the professional challenges within those roles and the personal impact of providing this service. Themes include: the relevance of the unique geography of Queensland; resource and referral challenges for many organisations; training and education implications; and the impact of bereavement support work on the providers. A consistent finding for both parents and service providers was the limited understanding across the community and professional services regarding the support families require following an unintentional death such as drowning.ii Attention to improved training and education across community and professional sectors, development of a specialised referral database and further research into school and workplace bereavement policies and procedures were key suggestions. Whilst the child drowning rate is decreasing In Queensland due to a number of intervention strategies, unintentional deaths from drowning continue to occur and impact irreversibly on families.Service providers, like parents, clearly articulated ways to ...

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Approach to the Paediatric Patient

Purvis

2019

Harper's Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology

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Supporting the Family After the Death of a Child

Cited by 56 publications

References 11 publications

How do parents experience support after the death of their child?

How do parents experience support after the death of their child?

The Psycho-social Impact of fatal Child Drowning in Queensland and the Availability and Use of Support

Approach to the Paediatric Patient

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