Parental bereavement – impact of death of neonates and children under 12 years on personhood of parents: a systematic scoping review

BMC Palliative Care

Min Chiam¹  Alexia Sze Inn Lee¹  Crystal Lim²  Jia Yin Lim³  Marie Bernadette Xin Yi Lim³  Wei Qiang Lim³  Randal Wei Liang Lee³  Prachi Simran Vig³  Huixin Huang³  Xiu Hui Tan³  Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna⁴  Vijayendra Ranjan Baral⁵ 

[1] Division of Cancer Education, National Cancer Centre Singapore, 11 Hospital Crescent, 169610, Singapore, Singapore;Medical Social Services, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Block 3 Level 1, 169608, Singapore, Singapore;Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, 169857, Singapore, Singapore;Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road NUHS Tower Block, Level 11, 119228, Singapore, Singapore;Division of Palliative and Supportive Care, National Cancer Centre Singapore, 11 Hospital Crescent, 169610, Singapore, Singapore;Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road NUHS Tower Block, Level 11, 119228, Singapore, Singapore;Division of Palliative and Supportive Care, National Cancer Centre Singapore, 11 Hospital Crescent, 169610, Singapore, Singapore;Division of Cancer Education, National Cancer Centre Singapore, 11 Hospital Crescent, 169610, Singapore, Singapore;Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, 169857, Singapore, Singapore;Palliative Care Institute Liverpool, Academic Palliative & End of Life Care Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK;Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore, Blk MD11, 10 Medical Drive, #02-03, 117597, Singapore, Singapore;PalC, The Palliative Care Centre for Excellence in Research and Education, PalC c/o Dover Park Hospice, 10 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, 308436, Singapore, Singapore;Cancer Research Centre, University of Liverpool, 200 London Rd, L3 9TA, Liverpool, UK;Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road NUHS Tower Block, Level 11, 119228, Singapore, Singapore;Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, 169857, Singapore, Singapore;Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Block 5 Level 4, 169608, Singapore, Singapore;

关键词: End of life;    Palliative care;    Death;    Neonate;    Infant;    Paediatrics;    Parents;    Ring theory of personhood;    Personhood;    Bereavement;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12904-021-00831-1

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLosing a child tragically impacts the well-being and functioning of parents. With these effects extending beyond emotional, physical morbidity and compromising self-perceptions, appropriate, longitudinal, timely and personalised support is key to effective care of bereaved parents. However, in the absence of a comprehensive understanding of parental bereavement, effective support of bereaved parents remains suboptimal. To address this gap, we scrutinise prevailing data on the effects of a child’s death, aged 0–12 years, through the lens of the Ring Theory of Personhood (RToP).MethodsTo study prevailing accounts of bereaved parents following the death of a child, we adopt Krishna’s Systematic Evidence Based Approach (SEBA) to structure our Systematic Scoping Review (SSR in SEBA).ResultsThree thousand seventy-four abstracts were reviewed, 160 full text articles were evaluated, and 111 articles were included and analysed using thematic and content analysis. Four themes/categories were identified relating to the four rings of the RToP. Findings reveal that static concepts of protective and risk factors for grief are misplaced and that the support of healthcare professionals is key to assisting bereaved parents.ConclusionIn the absence of consistent support of bereaved parents, this study highlights the need for effective training of healthcare professionals, beginning with an appreciation that every aspect of an individual parent’s personhood is impacted by the loss of their child. Acknowledging grief as a complex, evolving and personalised process subjected to parental characteristics, settings, context and available support, this SSR in SEBA calls attention to effective nurturing of the relationship between parents and healthcare professionals, and suggests use of the RToP to assess and direct personalised, timely, specific support of parents in evolving conditions. We believe the findings of this review also call for further studies to support healthcare professionals as they journey with bereaved parents.

【 授权许可】

CC BY