Bereaved parents experience of a hospital memorial service

Abstract

Objectives * Understand reasons a bereaved parent chooses to return to the hospital for a memorial service. * Identify elements of a hospital memorial service that parents identify as most beneficial. Original Research Background. 77% of children’s hospitals participating in a palliative care survey reported offering a hospital-based memorial service (Feudtner, 2013), yet little is known about bereaved parents’ experiences of attending such a service. Research Objectives. This paper reports preliminary findings from an exploratory, qualitative study to understand: why bereaved parents choose to attend a memorial service, what service elements parents consider most/least beneficial, and how a hospital memorial service can best meet bereaved parents’ needs. Methods. Parents experiencing a perinatal, neonatal, or pediatric death, and attending one of three yearly hospital-based memorial services, were invited to participate (Current n=15). In-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted within one month of memorial service attendance by a chaplain researcher trained in supporting bereaved families; interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Each interview was coded by two members of the interdisciplinary research team using Atlas.ti7 for data management. Thematic analysis was applied to each final coded transcript, followed by analysis matrices development to look at major themes across parent interviews. Results. This study is in the last phase of data collection, with final analysis projected by December, 2015. Emerging themes from 15 completed interviews include: a sense of community with fellow bereaved parents and the importance of others joining the parents in remembering their child through ritual. Conclusion. Bereaved parents who return to the hospital for a memorial service value the opportunity to honor their child in a supportive setting. Parents report finding comfort in connecting to their child through memorial service ritual. Implications for Research, Policy or Practice. Future research is needed to understand the ongoing impact of memorial service attendance on bereaved parents, including rituals they may choose to adopt or continue after returning home. Children’s hospitals are encouraged to establish or further refine memorial services in support of grieving parents.