Until the last breath: exploring the concept of hope for parents and health care professionals during a child’s serious illness

Synopsis:

Participants in this study were asked standardized questions related to their definition of hope, its role in medical decisions, and the benefits and detriments of hope in focus group sessions.  Common elements were noticed in people’s definitions and parents often viewed their role as the bearers of hope.  This type of discussion might be useful for physicians when communicating with parents- physicians might focus on the grimness of a prognosis while parents are playing their role of bearers of hope during the decision making process.

Source:

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Vol/Page/Date:

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163(7):653-657.

Resource Type:

Journal Article

Author/Source:

Reder EA, Serwint JR