442693Greater Illinois Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition, Evanston, IL, USA.
Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2022 Mar;39(3):289-294. doi: 10.1177/10499091211019298. Epub 2021 May 26.
Funeral professionals offer a unique opportunity to support, educate, and advocate for grieving families after the death of a child. From the initial point of contact to the burial, funeral professionals shape the final moments and memories of a family and a community. And yet, little is known about the needs of funeral professionals to provide high quality services when a child dies.
To conduct a needs assessment among funeral professionals in conducting funeral services for children.
Active National Funeral Directors Association members were surveyed on their experience and needs in providing pediatric funeral services. The survey contained 41 questions about experience, skills, and knowledge in providing pediatric funerals. The survey included multiple choice, yes/no, and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were generated from the survey items and comments/open-ended questions were coded and assessed for themes.
More than 200 responses were received. The respondents conducted 43 pediatric funeral services in a 5-year period (approx. 8 services/year). The top 5 self-identified training needs included grieving parents, grieving siblings, memorials, comforting the community, and outreach. Themes from the open-ended questions were (a) maintaining professionalism, (b) managing emotions and experiences, (c) assessing family dynamics, (d) managing professional skills, and (e) building collaborative networks.
Specific training needs were identified that will inform the development of targeted training for funeral professionals to improve their skills and knowledge of pediatric funeral services.
丧葬专业人员在儿童死亡后为悲痛欲绝的家庭提供支持、教育和倡导，这是一个独特的机会。从最初的接触点到葬礼，丧葬专业人员塑造了家庭和社区的最后时刻和回忆。然而，当孩子去世时，丧葬专业人员提供高质量服务的需求却知之甚少。
对丧葬专业人员在提供儿童葬礼服务方面的需求进行评估。
对全国丧葬主管协会的活跃成员进行了调查，以了解他们在提供儿科葬礼服务方面的经验和需求。该调查包含了 41 个关于提供儿科葬礼经验、技能和知识的问题。该调查包括多项选择、是/否和开放式问题。从调查项目中生成了描述性统计数据，并对评论/开放式问题进行了编码和主题评估。
收到了 200 多个回复。受访者在 5 年内进行了 43 次儿科葬礼服务（约每年 8 次）。自我确定的前 5 项培训需求包括悲痛欲绝的父母、悲痛欲绝的兄弟姐妹、纪念活动、安慰社区和外展。开放式问题的主题包括（a）保持专业性，（b）管理情绪和体验，（c）评估家庭动态，（d）管理专业技能，以及（e）建立合作网络。
确定了具体的培训需求，这将为丧葬专业人员提供有针对性的培训提供信息，以提高他们提供儿科葬礼服务的技能和知识。
