The Implementation of Memory-Making Kits for Families Enrolling in Home Hospice; A Pilot Program Aimed to Address Parental Grief.

BACKGROUND

Child loss is a grief population that requires specialized attention to the importance of legacy to the grieving process.

LOCAL PROBLEM: Lack of pediatric hospice throughout the state led to a gap in psychosocial end of life (EOL) and bereavement care for families opting to have their child's EOL at home with hospice services.

METHODS

A pilot program was created to explore parents' experiences with memory-making kits (MMKs) while their child was on home hospice and its impact in their bereavement.

INTERVENTION: Families and their pediatric palliative care team could opt-in to a questionnaire to offer feedback on the MMKs.

RESULTS

Health care providers (HCPs) appeared to find benefit in the intervention and wished to continue to offer the MMKs to future families with additional suggestions around the introduction of the MMKs and prognostic criteria. Parental feedback is ongoing.

CONCLUSIONS

The initial pilot implementation of these MMKs received overall positive feedback from HCPs. Further data exploration can continue to expand upon the MMKs' impact on the familial grief process and adult hospice providers caring for pediatric patients.