A quest for meaning : A qualitative exploration among children with advanced cancer and their parents

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd..

OBJECTIVE: Meaning-making may assist individuals in adaptation to stressful life events, particularly bereavement. However, few studies have examined meaning-making among pediatric populations with advanced illness to understand how this process unfolds before the child's death. This study explores meaning-making pre-bereavement among children with advanced cancer and their parents.

METHODS: As part of a larger study examining shared decision-making near the end of life, 24 children with advanced cancer and/or high-risk cancer, 26 mothers, and 11 fathers participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Analyses focused on questions regarding meaning-making. Four coders analyzed the data via directed content analysis.

RESULTS: Three major meaning-making themes emerged: (1) sense-making (i.e., unknown, no sense/meaning, religious/spiritual explanations, scientific explanations), (2) benefit-finding, and (3) purpose/legacy. Some stated they were unable to make sense of the diagnosis, because there was no reason, they were not there yet, or they were dealing with the situation and moving forward. Others reported finding meaning through spiritual and scientific explanations. Many identified benefits related to the child's illness, such as personal growth and stronger relationships. Some parents expressed their purpose in life was to live for their children, while others shared their child's legacy as a way to find meaning.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the struggle children and parents often face when attempting to make sense of the child's advanced or high-risk illness. Clinicians might consider if meaning-centered interventions designed for use in adults at the end of life and bereaved parents may be helpful for children with advanced or high-risk cancer and their parents.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:30

Enthalten in:

Psycho-oncology - 30(2021), 4 vom: 10. Apr., Seite 546-553

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Schaefer, Megan R [VerfasserIn]
Kenney, Ansley E [VerfasserIn]
Himelhoch, Alexandra C [VerfasserIn]
Howard Sharp, Katianne M [VerfasserIn]
Humphrey, Lisa [VerfasserIn]
Olshefski, Randal [VerfasserIn]
Young-Saleme, Tammi [VerfasserIn]
Gerhardt, Cynthia A [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Benefit-finding
Cancer
End of life
Journal Article
Meaning-making
Palliative
Pediatric
Psycho-oncology
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Sense-making

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 19.08.2021

Date Revised 19.08.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1002/pon.5601

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM317977733