Health and social care professionals’ experiences of supporting parents and their dependent children during, and following, the death of a parent: A qualitative review and thematic synthesis

Background:Children need to be prepared for the death of a parent and supported afterwards. Parents seek support from health and social care professionals to prepare their children. Support is not always forthcoming.Aim:To systematically identify, analyse and synthesise literature reporting of the experiences of health and social care professionals when supporting parents and children during, and following, the death of a parent.Design:A systematically constructed qualitative review and thematic synthesis. Registered on Prospero (CRD42017076345).Data sources:MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and PROSPERO, searched from January 1996 to July 2018 for qualitative studies in English, containing verbatim reporting of health and social care professionals’ experiences of supporting parents and children during, and following, the death of a parent. Qualitative data were appraised using a modified Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative appraisal checklist.Results:The search yielded 15,758 ar...