The impact of grief: A retrospective study of family function following loss of a child with cystic fibrosis
1979; Pergamon Press; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0021-9681(79)90067-5
ISSN1878-0679
AutoresJohn A. Kerner, Birt Harvey, Norman J. Lewiston,
Tópico(s)Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
ResumoThe impact of the death of a cystic fibrosis child on subsequent family function was evaluated in a retrospective study of 16 families. In findings similar to that reported for another model of fatal childhood illness, leukemia, there was a high incidence of emotional and medical problems in the parents. There was an unexpectedly high incidence (716) of incomplete mourning, i.e. maintenance of the child's room as a shrine or weekly grave visit for more than six months. Siblings had less difficulty in adjusting to the loss than that reported for the siblings of leukemic children. It is suggested that the prolonged course of a disease with a hopeless prognosis prepares the family for the child's death but also retards the mourning process. The family may need counselling to ensure that mourning is completed.
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