title: On the Child's Own Initiative: Parents Communicate with Their Dying Child About Death.
abstract: Open and honest communication has been identified as an important factor in providing good palliative care. However, there is no easy solution to if, when, and how parents and a dying child should communicate about death. This article reports how bereaved parents communicated about death with their child, dying from a malignancy. Communication was often initiated by the child and included communication through narratives such as fairy tales and movies and talking more directly about death itself. Parents also reported that their child prepared for death by giving instructions about his or her grave or funeral and giving away toys.
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, Department of Health and Caring Sciences , Uppsala Universitet , Uppsala , Sweden.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jalmsell
authors.forename: Taru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kontio
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Jan-Inge
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Henter
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kreicbergs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D035841:Behavioral Research; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002654:Child Care / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013548:Sweden; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*