title: End-of-life parental communication priorities among bereaved fathers due to cancer.
abstract: To elicit widowed fathers' perspectives on which domains of parenting-related communication they consider most important for dying parents to discuss at the end of life (EOL).
  
  
  
  Two hundred seventy nine fathers widowed by cancer completed a survey about their own depression and bereavement symptoms, their wife's illness, and EOL parental communication priorities. Chi square and Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression were used to evaluate relationships between maternal EOL characteristics and fathers' responses to parenting-related EOL communication priorities.
  
  
  
  Fathers identified raising children in a manner that reflected maternal wishes, whether/how to talk with children about their mother's death, and how the mother wanted to be remembered as the most important EOL communication domains. Fathers who reported that their dying wives were worried about the children were more likely to prioritize raising children in ways that reflect her wishes (p=0.01). Other EOL characteristics were not associated with communication domains.
  
  
  
  Communicating with children and maintaining emotional connection with the deceased parent are important priorities for bereaved fathers who lost a spouse to cancer.
  
  
  
  Health care providers working with seriously ill parents may improve family outcomes by supporting communication at the EOL between co-parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, 170 Manning Drive, CB 7305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. Electronic address: leeza_park@med.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Eliza M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Biostatistics Core Facility, University of North Carolina, 450 West Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
authors.forename: Allison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Deal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, 170 Manning Drive, CB 7305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yopp
authors.affiliation: H. W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 208 N. Raleigh St., CB3355, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, 321 S. Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA.
authors.forename: Elise M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Stephenson
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, 321 S. Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA.
authors.forename: Claire E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, 170 Manning Drive, CB 7305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Zev M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, 170 Manning Drive, CB 7305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, 125 MacNider Hall, CB7005, Chapel Hill NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Donald L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Rosenstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013727:Terminal Care; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Bereavement; Cancer; Communication; End-of-life; Oncology; Parents