Care of bereaved parents. A study of patient satisfaction

Death of a child is a family tragedy and may result in parental dissatisfaction with medical care. Numerous recommendations exist for physicians to help bereaved parents after perinatal or neonatal death, but the effectiveness of these treatments has not been measured. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between satisfaction with care and those recommended treatments. A study group of 37 bereaved parents completed a standardized patient satisfaction questionnaire and a questionnaire developed by the authors. Through the latter instrument, parents reported the degree to which 30 recommended treatments (seven categories) had been used by their physician. Subjects also reported the degree of helpfulness they perceived in retrospect from this care. Significant correlations were found between satisfaction scores and the use of most of the recommended treatments (five of seven categories). Being available, providing medical information and grief counseling were the categories of treatment with the greatest correlations. A change to a new physician had been made by 31% of the study group, and these parents reported their physicians had provided significantly less medical information when compared with parents who had not changed physicians. These findings support the use of currently recommended treatments for bereaved parents and suggest these parents appreciate and perceive help from medical information, support, help in overcoming denial, grief counseling and availability from their physicians.