Beneficial effects of a hospital bereavement intervention program after traumatic childhood death

Purpose: An investigation of the experiences of parents grieving the trauma tic death of their child, the initiatives that helped, and common parental concerns that would benefit from improved education, Methods: From January 1, 1995, to December 31, 1998, 81 of 3,501 children a dmitted to our pediatric trauma center died. An attempt was made to enroll all parents. Interactions included family contact at hospital, home/funeral home visit within 1 month of death, educational meeting with parents and 1 5 supporters at a restaurant within 2 months of death, follow-up survey to parents/supporters, and final interview/survey with parents in 1999-2000. Results: Seventy-seven families were enrolled; 59 families completed the ed ucational meeting with supporters, and 245 parental supporters returned sur veys. Supporters were likely to use proposed interventions (82%), were more accepting of the duration of grief (94%), and interacted with parents more often after the death (78%). Parents (n = 44) felt the hospital staff was appropriately sensitive to their child (90%), themselves (93%) and prepared them for their child's death (81%). Parents (n = 54) on behalf of 37 child ren have completed the final interview, Poor conceptualization of aspects o f the medical care and brain death, and delayed regret for missing the oppo rtunity to donate organs, were recurring themes. Conclusion: We conclude that parents' unanswered questions or misconception s regarding brain death, organ donation, and their child's medical care adv ersely affect their grief; that "normal life" for parents is challenged as they struggle to establish a new sense of normal; and that hospital and tra uma service personnel can positively impact the grieving process with appro priate training.