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  • This article presents select findings from an interpretive phenomenological study which aimed to describe the lived experience of parental bereavement. Six parents, each of whom experienced the death of a child due to cancer at least one year prior, participated in conversational interviews to share what it has been like for them since their child's death. Heideggerian (1962) phenomenology provided the philosophical underpinnings of the study, while van Manen's (1997) phenomenological method guided data collection and analysis. From this methodological approach, a structure of the meaning of parental bereavement experience was revealed. Profound suffering emerged as one essential theme. Pertinent findings related to this theme are discussed. Parents share ways others might minimize their suffering and provide support in their lifelong journey towards healing. Findings will enhance nurses' practice of providing bereavement care, which is an expectation of quality palliative care. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  • In spite of growing bereavement literature, the meaning of the lived experience of parental bereavement is not well understood. This article presents selected findings from a Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological study which aimed to describe the lived experience of bereaved parents who experienced the death of a child due to cancer. Conversational interviews were conducted with six parents who experienced the death of a young child due to cancer at least one year prior to participation. The nature of parental bereavement was revealed to be a new state of being into which parents enter immediately after the death of a child and which has no end point. Findings will equip health professionals and others who work with bereaved parents with a deeper understanding of the meaning of parental bereavement.

Last update from database: 3/13/26, 4:15 PM (UTC)

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