title: Assistance to parents who have lost their child with cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the psychological needs of parents after the death of their child from cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprises a preliminary retrospective phase to identify parents who spontaneously contacted the medical staff, followed by a prospective phase in which families were contacted by telephone and were invited to a meeting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The retrospective study demonstrated that more than 50% of the families spontaneously sought contact with the department. In the prospective study, 17 families were contacted and the majority of them subsequently decided to come to the department for a talk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experience shows that parents have a strong need to have further contact with the team that took care of their children for months. In the process of coping with bereavement, anxiety and depression are common and not necessarily pathological, though there may be psychopathological reactions that can interfere with the parents' quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy. carloclerici@fastwebnet.it
authors.forename: Carlo Alfredo
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massimino
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luksch
authors.forename: Graziella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cefalo
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terenziani
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Spreafico
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Polastri
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meazza
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Podda
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fossati-Bellani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D001601:Bereavement; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires