Bereaved Parents' Experiences of Virtual Storytelling Through Music: A Qualitative Analysis.

CONTEXT: Bereaved parents whose child died from cancer are at risk for prolonged and complicated grief, yet accessible, engaging bereavement interventions remain limited. Storytelling Through Music (STM) is a virtual, group-delivered expressive arts intervention that integrates reflective writing, psychoeducation, and therapeutic songwriting.

OBJECTIVES

To explore parents' emotional experiences and perceived impacts of participating in STM one month after completing the intervention.

METHODS

This qualitative study was embedded within a randomized controlled feasibility trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06047808). Following the six-week STM intervention, bereaved parents in the intervention arm completed semi-structured, one-on-one interviews approximately one-month post-intervention. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using conventional content analysis with multiple coders and iterative consensus to develop themes.

RESULTS

Twelve bereaved parents participated in post-intervention interviews. Five interrelated themes characterized the STM experience: (1) connecting with peers and music, (2) benefits of coping through sharing, (3) expansive emotional experience (coexistence of grief and positive emotion), (4) graded exposure through the sequenced writing-storytelling-songwriting process, and (5) enduring legacy, with the final song functioning as a lasting keepsake and ongoing coping resource.

CONCLUSION

STM appears to support multidimensional grief processing by combining social connection, narrative meaning-making, and music-based emotional engagement in a virtual format. Findings suggest STM may be a feasible, scalable approach to bereavement support and highlight potential mechanisms (connection, graded exposure, and legacy creation) to test in larger, more diverse trials.