The usage of family audiobooks as a legacy for grieving children - an exploratory quantitative analysis among terminally ill parents and close persons.

BACKGROUND

Since 2017, terminally ill parents with dependent children under the age of 18 have been able to record an audiobook for their dependent children. This service allows them to narrate how they would like to be remembered in their voice. The family audiobook is a professionally supported, voluntary, free service that is unique in Germany. There is little research on digital memories for children. The study aims to understand how this service is used and its influence on children through responses of terminally ill parents and close persons.

METHODS

An anonymous online survey, accessible between September 2023 and November 2023, was conducted among terminally ill parents and their close persons with support from the Family Audiobook Association in Germany. Analyses were carried out using SPSS.

RESULTS

186 respondents, 95 terminally ill parents, and 91 close persons completed the online survey. Almost all terminally ill parents felt eased to have recorded a family audiobook. The two groups showed differences in how they used the family audiobook and how often they listened to it. While some children listen to the family audiobook with their bereaved parents or friends, other children are not yet ready for this, according to the open-ended responses of terminally ill parents and close persons.

CONCLUSIONS

The family audiobook provides a valuable opportunity for terminally ill parents with dependent children under the age of 18 to tell their own biographical story, offer support to the bereaved in remembering, and preserve the voice of the deceased for the children. In addition, this approach could help healthcare professionals to reduce the stress associated with providing end-of-life care for terminally ill parents.