In The News This Week … Sep. 11–17, 2004: Discussing Death With Dying Kids

Research published in the September 16, 2004 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine addresses a subject that many people find difficult, whether they are in healthcare or not: talking with children about death. The study particularly looked at parents discussing death with children suffering from severe malignant disease, and who were terminally ill. (Evidence suggests that terminally ill children benefit from talking about death.)

The study received 449 parental responses, of which 429 stated whether or not they had spoken about death with their child before he or she had died. Of the 429, 147 had spoken about death with their child and 258 had not. (And interestingly, regarding the question of whether or not the parents had spoken with each other at some time about their child's imminent death, of the 430 that responded, only 76% indicated that they had done so.)

None of the 147 parents who talked to their child about death reported regretting it. However, of the 258 who did not talk about death, 27% regretted not having done so (the remaining 73% did not). Those parents mostly likely to report regret were those who sensed that their child was aware of their imminent death. Mothers were also more likely to regret not speaking than fathers, as were parents of older children over younger children. Also, parents who were religious were more likely to speak about death than those who were not.

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