Hospital-based Bereavement Services following the Death of a Child: A Single Center Experience and Review of Literature

Introduction: As long as children die of disease, parents are left in severe sadness, risking future mental and physical health problems. Hospitals can offer bereavement programs in which parents receive the necessary support and information which might be of importance to prevent health issues.
This manuscript reveals an overview of the current bereavement programs that hospitals offer to parents of deceased children. It furthermore evaluates the memorial evening in the Emma Childrens Hospital (ECH).

Methods: An online search strategy for literature describing bereavement programs was performed in PubMed between 13 and 20 April 2020. The methodological quality of the randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and qualitative studies were assessed by using a Cochrane appraisal form. The more descriptive studies were assessed with three selected items, which are: 1) descriptive purpose, 2) clear point of view, 3) replicable intervention. An online questionnaire was used to ask parents to reveal the memorial evening in the ECH.

Results: All interventions from 12 hospital-based bereavement programs in Europe and Northern America were described and the experiences of 284 parents were evaluated. A wide spread of interventions was found and also the time span of bereavement care for parents varied per program. Parents experience the bereavement programmes as useful, meaningful and important for the period after the death of their child. Overall the parents opinion was that the ECH memorial fulfilled needs and wishes although more moments of contact with care providers and peers was wished for.

Conclusion: Current bereavement programmes consist of many different interventions offered to parents. Parents highly appreciate the programmes and report that contact with the care providers is very important in the process of mourning.