Death of a parent and the children's experience: Don't ignore the elephant in the room

Abstract

This paper explores two interlinked components of practitioner's support to children when a parent or carer is at the end of life or has died. The primary issue relates to communication and the competence and confidence of practitioners when working with this community of children. The paper suggests that related to this is the lack of training practitioners receive, both as students and through continual professional development, within the fields of social care and health. The metaphor of the elephant in the room is used to delineate how practitioners avoid such discussions and thereby miss opportunities to support children experiencing potentially the most traumatic life event they have faced. Drawing on current research and the author's experience and reflections as a researcher and practitioner the paper suggests that children experiencing the death of a parent or carer are not being recognized as children in need but rather requiring interventions from specialist services.

Keywords:

• Interprofessional working
• communication
• training
• end of life and bereavement support
• children and families

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr Gordon Riches (University of Derby) for his support and comments during the early drafts of the paper and the Editor-in-Chief for their constructive support. The author is indebted to the families and professionals who have been involved in the doctoral research. Without their generosity this paper would not have been possible.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.