title: Bereavement Follow-Up After the Death of a Child as a Standard of Care in Pediatric Oncology.
abstract: After a child's death to cancer, families commonly want continued connection with the healthcare team that cared for their child, yet bereavement follow-up is often sporadic. A comprehensive literature search found that many bereaved parents experience poor psychological outcomes during bereavement and that parents want follow-up and benefit from continued connection with their child's healthcare providers. Evidence suggests that the standard of care should consist of at least one meaningful contact between the healthcare team and bereaved parents to identify those at risk for negative psychosocial sequelae and to provide resources for bereavement support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Wendy G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Lichtenthal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.|Department of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Corinne R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Kailey E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.|Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Geoffrey W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Corner
authors.affiliation: School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Leigh A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Holly G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Prigerson
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wiener
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000592:standards*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000592:standards*; D059039:Standard of Care
keywords: bereaved parents; bereavement; cancer; death of a child; palliative care; pediatric oncology