Why Is It Just So Hard? Making Sense of End-of-Life Communication Between Adult Children and Their Terminally Ill Parental Figures

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13629663
AutoresEmily Scheinfeld (0000-0001-6395-2672, The University of Texas at Tyler, TX, USA, autor correspondente), Pamela Lake (The University of Texas at Tyler), Pamela K Lake (The University of Texas at Tyler, TX, USA)
Ano2019
Volume83
Fascículo3
Páginas611-629
Data de publicação2019-06-26
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0030222819859163
PMID31242066
OpenAlexW2954159783
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas16

The aging population in the United States is predicted to become one fifth of the population by 2050. With that increase, more individuals in the country will be experiencing chronic health conditions and the need for care, with end of life (EoL) becoming more of a topic that needs to be discussed. This study aims to explore the ways adult children talk to their parents about EoL, death, and dying. We discovered six themes: protection, meeting needs, guilt and regret, control, family dynamics, and communication type. Each of these was prevalent in responses to how adult children cope, how they cared for their parent, and how hope played into the interactions. We believe these themes will be helpful in developing a quantitative scale to study EoL further and be practical in helping adult children cope following death of their parent

Developmental psychology · End-of-life care · Palliative care · Population · Regret · Terminally ill · Family Support in Illness · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Medicine · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Psychology · Gerontology