• Eddy Carolina Pedraza, Anna Katharina Vokinger, Daniela Cleves, Gisela Michel, Jordan Wrigley, Justin N Baker, Ximena Garcia-Quintero, and Michael J McNeil.
• Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine (P.E.C., V.A.K., M.G.), University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland. Electronic address: eddy.pedraza@unilu.ch.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 May 1; 67 (5): e453e471e453-e471.

IntroductionThe death of a child may be the most traumatic event a family can experience. Bereavement care for parents is essential for their physical and mental well-being and is a psychosocial standard of care. Childhood mortality is higher in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs); however, little is known regarding bereavement support or interventions for parents in LMICs.AimTo identify programs, services, initiatives, or interventions offered to bereaved parents in LMICs in hospital settings.MethodsA systematic search was executed following the Preferred Reported Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles from LMICs describing interventions, programs, or resources provided to parents after the death of a child (0-18 years old) from any cause were included. Extracted data was categorized by demographics, study design, outcomes, and quality assessment using the McGill Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).ResultsWe retrieved 4428 papers and screened their titles and abstracts, 36 articles were selected for full-text assessment, resulting in nine articles included in the final analysis. Most interventions described support for parents whose child died during the prenatal or neonatal period. The primary interventions included psychological counseling, creating mementos (such as photographs or footprints), and bereavement workshops. Only one paper described a fully established bereavement program for parents. Eight of the papers met high-quality criteria.DiscussionAlthough bereavement care is crucial for parents whose child has died, only a few studies have documented bereavement interventions in LMICs. More research may help with bereavement program implementation and improved care for bereaved parents in LMICs.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

20 keywords...

hide…