This systematic review will examine the social support needs of bereaved parents in the specific context of pediatric cancer by synthesizing the qualitative evidence. Social support encompasses ...emotional, practical, informational, and meaning-making support needs.
The Joanna Briggs Institute procedures for conducting qualitative systematic reviews guided every stage of this review. Four databases (PsychInfo, CINAHL, Pubmed, and ASSIA) were systematically searched, in addition to the gray literature and scoping review. Through a five-step critical appraisal process 11 out of 668 potential articles were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria.
Relevant findings were synthesized with a thematic-synthesis approach. Findings, which follow the journey of bereaved parents integrated under the core-category "Needs." This encompasses of four higher-level categories:
Last days: Parent needs when caring for their dying child
Rest in peace: Parent needs during the child's death
Feeling abandoned: Parent needs for contact after the child's death
Searching for Meaning: Parents needs when making sense of loss
Informational support needs is largely unexplored in academic literature. Staff in the treating-hospital are central in offering bereavement-support to parents, who may otherwise feel that they have lost their second home (hospital) and second family (staff).
AIHA following allogeneic HSCT is appearing more frequently in the literature. It occurs as a result of donor cell‐derived antibodies targeting donor red cell antigens. Little guidance exists on the ...management of such patients, particularly in the pediatric setting. First‐line conventional treatment is corticosteroids and/or immunoglobulin therapy with monoclonal antibody therapy reserved for treatment failure. We report our experience of a child refractory to immunoglobulin and steroid therapy who required several infusions of rituximab and immunomodulatory therapy to obtain a clinically significant response.
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