Bereavement After a Child's Death

Danielle Jonas; Caitlin Scanlon; Rachel Rusch; Janie Ito; Marsha Joselow

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2018.05.010

Bereavement After a Child's Death

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2018 Oct;27(4):579-590. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2018.05.010. Epub 2018 Jun 27.

Authors

Danielle Jonas¹, Caitlin Scanlon², Rachel Rusch³, Janie Ito⁴, Marsha Joselow⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Comfort and Palliative Care, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: Daniellefayejonas@gmail.com.
² Integrated Care Management, Palliative Care Team, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
³ Division of Comfort and Palliative Care, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Pediatric Advance Care Team, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.

PMID: 30219219
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2018.05.010

Abstract

The death of a child is a heart-wrenching experience that can have a significant impact on parents, siblings, and families while also often having ripple effects throughout the child's community. Pediatric loss has an impact on family structure and dynamics, individual identity formation, and conceptualization as well as professional practice. This article explores bereavement after a child's death through the lens of the family, the parent, the sibling, the forgotten grievers, and the provider.

Keywords: Grief; Memory making; Palliative care; Parent bereavement; Pediatric death; Pediatrics; Provider grief; Sibling bereavement.

MeSH terms

Bereavement*
Child
Death*
Female
Humans
Male
Parents / psychology*
Pediatrics
Professional-Family Relations*