Cultivating Gratitude in Bereaved Families: Understanding the Impact of the Bereavement Workshop on the Families of Deceased Patients in the Pediatric Palliative Care Program

Abstract

Grief in parents has been described as a very intense long-lasting experience, characterized by deep sadness, and social isolation, therefore, the recommendation of scientific societies in pediatrics is to provide bereavement care to parents and relatives of deceased children who have previously been cared for by health professionals. A bereavement workshop for parents is proposed as an intervention strategy, providing accompaniment to the families of deceased patients who received pediatric palliative care (PPC). This is a descriptive, qualitative, and exploratory study. Two focal group sessions were performed in 2019 with 23 families who were formal caregivers of pediatric patients in the Programa de Cuidando de ti (Program “Taking Care of You”), Cali, Colombia. These sessions, guided by the pediatric palliative care group. Data were analyzed using content analysis. 60 families received the personalized letter of condolences with invitation to the workshop, 23 families attended the workshop. From the gratitude activity, families made 49 thank you cards, the following categories were highlighted: Communication, Hope, compassion, acceptance, humanization, learning, gratitude, active listening, coping strategies, regards, faith and humanization. Strategies that favor adequate emotional management of the grieving process should be promoted. This study reflects the perceptions of parents attending a bereavement workshop. It highlights the gratitude, feelings and reflections of the family members during the health process and the death of the child while receiving accompaniment by a pediatric palliative care team.