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Reconsidering early parental grief following the death of a child from cancer: a new framework for future research and bereavement support

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Abstract

Purpose

Parents of children that die from cancer are at increased risk of significant long-term psychosocial and physical morbidities. Less, however, is known about the experience of parents early in the grief process. Currently used frameworks and instruments used to understand and assess outcomes in parents early in the grief experience are inadequate and may serve to pathologize the normal grief response.

Methods

Through review of the literature, previously conducted qualitative work, and extensive clinical experience working with bereaved parents, we developed a new framework for understanding, assessing, and studying parental grief during the first 2 years following the death of a child from cancer.

Results

Our novel longitudinal framework hypothesizes that short- and long-term psychosocial sequalae in parents following the death of a child from cancer depend not only on pre-death factors but on the support present through the disease experience and the oscillation between protective factors and risk factors in the post-death period. We further hypothesize that protective factors and risk factors may be modifiable, making them key potential targets for supportive interventions aimed at augmenting protective factors and diminishing the effect of risk factors.

Conclusion

This is a new framework for understanding and assessing the grief experience of parents within the first 2 years of a child’s death. Many questions about how best to support parents following the death of a child from cancer remain providing ample opportunities for future research and development of interventions to improve both short- and long-term outcomes in bereaved parents.

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Abbreviations

EOL:

End-of-life

PTSD:

Post-traumatic stress disorder

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Jennifer Snaman, Sue E. Morris, Rachel Holder & Joanne Wolfe

  2. Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Jennifer Snaman

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Jennifer Snaman & Joanne Wolfe

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Sue E. Morris

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Sue E. Morris

  6. Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA

    Abby R. Rosenberg

  7. Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Abby R. Rosenberg

  8. Division of Quality of Life and Palliative Care, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Justin Baker

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  1. Jennifer Snaman
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  2. Sue E. Morris
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  4. Rachel Holder
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Correspondence to Jennifer Snaman.

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Snaman, J., Morris, S.E., Rosenberg, A.R. et al. Reconsidering early parental grief following the death of a child from cancer: a new framework for future research and bereavement support. Support Care Cancer 28, 4131–4139 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05249-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05249-3

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