Caregiver-child communication on parental loss in the context of the AIDS epidemic in Namibia

Death Stud. 2024;48(4):293-302. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2023.2219647. Epub 2023 Jun 9.

Abstract

Personal grief takes place in a social context, such as the family setting. This study aimed to understand how Namibian caregivers and children/adolescents communicate parental loss, in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. An ethnographic design was used, in which 38 children, adolescents, and their caregivers were interviewed. The results show that caregivers shared few memories and provided minimal information about the deceased parents. However, the majority of adolescents and children wished for information. A relational Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver model was used to map the reasons for this silence. This model is useful for grief interventions that aim to strengthen communication.

MeSH terms

  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome* / epidemiology
  • Adolescent
  • Caregivers
  • Communication
  • Humans
  • Namibia / epidemiology
  • Parental Death*