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. 2025 May 30:23:e113.
doi: 10.1017/S1478951525000446.

Strategies to prepare hospice providers to interact with adolescents with a parent in hospice

William Grayson  1 , Denice Kopchak Sheehan  2 , Pamela S Stephenson  2 , Kristen DeBois  3 , Caitlin Sheehan  2
Affiliations

Strategies to prepare hospice providers to interact with adolescents with a parent in hospice

William Grayson et al. Palliat Support Care. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore what is important for hospice providers to know when a seriously ill parent has adolescent children.

Methods: The sample included 18 young adults (18-28 years old) whose parents died in hospice or palliative care while they were adolescents (12-18 years old). Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a thematic analysis. Themes emerged from the data and were determined by consensus.

Results: The participants described a variety of skills that are important for hospice providers to know. They provided specific suggestions for hospice providers who seek to help adolescents navigate this critical time when their parents are dying or have recently died.

Significance of results: These results can also be used to inform the development of interventions that assist hospice providers with strategies tailored to an adolescent's specific needs. Future research should investigate these topics with a larger, more diverse sample.

Keywords: Hospice; adolescents/youth; end of life; palliative care; parental death; qualitative research.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Participation Characteristics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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