title: Parenting challenges in the setting of terminal illness: a family-focused perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the advanced stages of illness, families with dependent children experience disruption across all dimensions of family life. The need for family support during palliative care is well recognized, yet little is understood about how parents and their children navigate these difficult circumstances. This review summarizes the current body of research on parenting challenges in advanced cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To date, the study of parental cancer has focused predominantly on the early stages of disease and its impact on children and adolescents. Less is known about how families with minor children prepare for parental loss. Evidence suggests that having dependent children influences parents' treatment decisions at the end of life, and that a central concern for children and parents is optimizing time spent together. Parents may feel an urgency to engage in accelerated parenting, and maintaining normalcy remains a consistent theme for the ill and healthy parent alike. There is a growing evidence base affirming the importance of responsive communication prior to death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advancing knowledge about the parenting experience at the end of life is critical for ensuring effective support to the entire family, as it accommodates and prepares for the loss of a vital member.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA bDepartment of Psychology, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA cThe Ackerman Institute for the Family, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Talia I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Zaider
authors.forename: Christina G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Salley
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davidovits
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D005195:Family Relations; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*