Thursday 2 May 2019

Article: Parental life-limiting illness: what do we tell children

This UK study aims to increase our understanding of children's experiences when a parent has a life-limiting illness.  Interviews were carried out with 7 bereaved children exploring the experience of the support they received along with interviews with 16 healthcare professionals to gain their perspective of the support offered to the children.  The findings showed the children need open, clear and age appropriate conversations with their parents.  Parents often found this difficult and looked at healthcare professionals for support and guidance, however healthcare professionals didn't always feel able to offer support. The role of healthcare professionals, training and role in this process is discussed further

Fearnley, F. & Boland, J. W. 2019. Parental life-limiting illness: what do we tell children.  Healthcare, 7 (47) online

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