Browsing by Author "Dias, Nancy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Bereaved Parents’ Health Status During the First 6 Months After Their Child’s Death
    (Sage, 2018) Dias, Nancy; Brandon, Debra; Haase, Joan E.; Tanabe, Paula; School of Nursing
    Purpose: To examine bereaved parents’ physical, mental, and social health during the first 6 months after their child’s (<12 years) death from a life-threatening illness. Background and Significance: Bereaved parents have higher mortality and morbidity rates when compared to nonbereaved parents. Acute illnesses, hospitalizations, and medication changes are highest in the first 6 months. An understanding of bereaved parents’ health risk indicators can help inform development of health promotion and disease prevention measures. Methods and Analysis: A prospective descriptive study examined 8 parent dyads. Parents completed health surveys (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System–global, social, and sleep; Brief Symptom Inventory [BSI] 18), which are used to assess parents’ health at 3 and 6 months after their child’s death. Demographic data included a medical history, hospital or emergency department visits, and smoking and alcohol intake. Descriptive statistics were used to compare parents’ scores to US general population scores. Findings: Mothers’ and fathers’ physical, mental, and sleep health scores were typically within 1 to 2 standard deviations of the population norms. However, their social health scores were as low as 3 standard deviations and all parents’ scores were below population norms. Four (25%) of the 16 parents had new diagnosis during the first 6 months. Based on the BSI-18, 3 parents had their scores above population cutoffs, which warranted a need for further clinical evaluation. Conclusions: Health data highlight the “at-risk” health status of bereaved parents. Further validation of these data is required to support the development of health promotion and disease prevention programs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Systematic Literature Review of the Current State of Knowledge Related to Interventions for Bereaved Parents
    (Sage, 2019-12) Dias, Nancy; Hendricks-Ferguson, Verna L.; Wei, Holly; Boring, Elizabeth; Sewell, Kerry; Haase, Joan E.; School of Nursing
    Aims: The purpose of this systematic literature review is to describe the interventions for bereaved parents, evaluate intervention effectiveness through study methodology rigor, replicability, and theoretical foundations. Methods: We searched MEDLINE via PubMed (1966-2018), CINAHL (1937-present), PsycINFO (1887-present), and Embase (1947-present) using various search words and MeSH terms related to the study purpose. A blinded screening of title/abstract was performed, with conflicting inclusion decisions resolved through group discussions. Matrices for remaining articles were created and discussed among the team. The levels of evidence of the 9 records were rated from very low to high based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation guidelines. Results: Our initial pool included 1025 articles. After the screening of titles/abstracts, 63 articles were retained for full-text reviews. Evaluated based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 9 records met the review criteria. Of the 9 records, 1 was graded as very low, 3 low, and 5 low to moderate. The interventions for bereaved parents varied from using single-model interventions such as expressive arts therapy and telephone support to multimodal interventions that combined resources (ie, peer support, resource packets, and health-care support). Only 1 study explicitly illustrated how its bereavement intervention was designed based on the proposed theoretical model. Conclusions: This review highlights the need for individualized, well-tested, and effective bereavement care interventions to support bereaved parents. In summary, the state of the science on interventions for bereaved parents is poor and much work needs to be done to effectively address the needs of bereaved parents, including both their physical and emotional health needs.