Parental grieving and perceptions regarding health care professionals' interventions

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Palliative Care
• Bereavement Studies
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Pediatric death profoundly affects families and healthcare professionals.
• Effective support for grieving parents is crucial before, during, and after a child's death.
• Understanding parental grief intensity and perceptions of care is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure the intensity of parental grief.
• To gather bereaved parents' perceptions of healthcare professionals' interventions.
• To identify helpful and unhelpful healthcare professional actions during childhood bereavement.

Main Methods:

• Utilized The Bereavement Questionnaire (TBQ) to assess parental grief.
• Collected data from parents who experienced the death of a neonate, infant, or child.
• Analyzed responses to understand the impact of healthcare professional support.

Main Results:

• Parental grief intensity scores were generally higher than established TRIG norms.
• Parents identified specific helpful and unhelpful interventions by healthcare professionals.
• Insights were gained into the support needed at different stages of the bereavement process.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare professionals play a critical role in supporting bereaved parents.
• There is a need to enhance healthcare professional training in pediatric palliative care and bereavement support.
• Addressing parental grief intensity and improving care interventions can positively impact families.