Children's fears 2-13 months after sibling NICU/PICU/emergency department death

Grief in children's story books. A systematic integrative review

BACKGROUND

Grieving is an adaptive process in the face of the death of somebody close. Children grieve the loss of a family member or friend and need support from their caregivers and the professionals who care for them during this process. Failure to talk to children about the death of a family member or friend can lead to prolonged grief. Children's story books are one of the resources available for providing this type of support.

OBJECTIVE

To provide the nursing professional with information on story books aimed at children from 7 to 11 years of age as a tool to help them understand and cope with grief.

DESIGN

A systematic integrative review was conducted.

METHODS

A search was performed in the ISBN database of the Ministry of Culture and the University Libraries Network. Data extraction was performed by two coders using a protocol registered in PROSPERO.

RESULTS

Fifty-six books met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-five percent of the deceased characters were grandparents and 30.4% died due to illness. The most frequent emotion was sadness, (43.3%) and the most repeated coping strategy was remembering the deceased person, (28.7%). The grieving process was depicted in 32.1% of the selected stories.

CONCLUSION

The children's books reviewed support understanding and coping with grief. However, some limitations were detected, and therefore it is advisable to accompany the child while reading these books to discuss aspects that have not been addressed.

Palliative care considerations and practices for adolescents and young adults with cancer

The definition of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in oncology varies with upper limits up to age 39. Younger AYAs, ages 12-24 years, are often cared for within pediatrics. In caring for AYAs with cancer, there are unique considerations that become even more important to recognize, acknowledge, and address in AYAs with life-threatening cancer receiving palliative care. This review highlights important factors such as psychosocial development, cultural considerations, and support structure, which should be considered when providing palliative care to AYAs with cancer during the various stages of care: introduction of palliative care; symptom management; advanced care planning (ACP); end-of-life (EOL) care; and bereavement.