A Qualitative Study Into Parents’ Experiences With Loss During Their Child’s End-Of-Life: Enduring and Intrusions of Grief

Abstract

Background/aims: Parents of children receiving palliative care experience incremental losses and feelings of grief. During the end-of-life (EOL), the dynamics of being confronted with the growing threat of losing their child while fulfilling parenthood gets more strained. A better understanding of grief during the EOL will facilitate bereavement care aligned to the parents’ needs. This study aims to gain insight into how parents experience and cope with losses and feelings of grief during their child’s EOL.