ArticlePalliative medicine2021
'Living in parallel worlds' - bereaved parents' experience of family life when a parent with dependent children is at end of life from cancer: A qualitative study.
Article in Palliative medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Communicating with young children who have a parent dying of a life-limiting illness: a qualitative systematic review of the experiences and impact on healthcare, social and spiritual care professionals.BMC palliative care · 2022Pooled it
- Communicating with children about a parent's cancer: A document analysis of national cancer organization websites across 13 countries.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2026Article
- Evaluating the quality, reliability and readability of digital and artificial intelligence resources for adults with cancer who have significant caregiving responsibilities for children.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Using the Person-based Approach to plan and develop an intervention for healthcare professionals to facilitate family-centred conversations when an adult patient has a serious illness.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Nurses' Perspectives on Unmet Social, Psychological, and Spiritual Needs of Palliative Patients in Croatia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Article
- 'I'm tired of justifying why my life has stopped': A qualitative analysis of the experiences and support needs of young people caring at the end of life and into bereavement.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- The influence of contextual factors on the sustainability of the family talk intervention after implementation when a parent of children or youths has a life-threatening illness.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Strategies to prepare hospice providers to interact with adolescents with a parent in hospice.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Supporting the bereaved child in the adult ICU: a narrative review.Intensive care medicine · 2025Review
- An e-Learning Intervention for Professionals to Promote Family-Centered Cancer Care When a Significant Caregiver for Children Is at End of Life: Mixed Methods Evaluation Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- The usage of family audiobooks as a legacy for grieving children - an exploratory quantitative analysis among terminally ill parents and close persons.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Parental perspectives on the grief and support needs of children and young people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative findings from a national survey.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- 'I didn't know what was in front of me'-Bereaved parents' experience of adapting to life when a co-parent of dependent children has died with cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2022Article
- Conversations About Children When an Important Adult Is at End of Life: An Audit.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2022Article
- Article
- 'Don't forget the children': a qualitative study when a parent is at end of life from cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
- Experiences of preparing children for a death of an important adult during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study.BMJ open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhen a parent of dependent children (<18 years old) is at end of life from cancer, this has a profound impact on the family. Children less prepared for the death of a parent are more susceptive to poorer psychosocial adjustment in later life. There is a lack of understanding from the literature surrounding what support parents require, and how they navigate this end of life experience.
aimTo explore bereaved parents' experience and needs for families when a parent is at end of life from cancer with dependent children.
designIn-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 bereaved mothers and fathers, identified from the general public, a family support service and hospice. Data were analysed thematically.
resultsParents often live in 'parallel worlds' throughout the end of life period. In one world, 'living in the moment', cherishing the ordinariness of family life, remaining hopeful treatment will prolong life, whilst adapting as the illness unfolds. The other world presents as 'intermitted glimpses that death is approaching', shadowed with painful emotional concerns surrounding their children and the future. At the end, death rapidly approaches, characterised as suddenly 'falling off the cliff'; placing significant demands on the well-parent.
conclusionsAmidst challenges, clinicians should provide parents with clear information surrounding a poor prognosis, so families can plan and prepare for parental death. There is a need for healthcare professionals to engage, encourage and equip parents, as they prepare their children throughout the end of life experience for the inevitable death of a parent.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.