ABSTRACT

Parents whose children are dying are expected to be able to cope with the physical and psychosocial problems of the child, to make decisions about the treatment, to inform the friends and family members, to talk about the treatment and the disease with the children, to prevent pain and suffering in the last days and hours. It is the responsibility of health workers to ensure that the child passes the last periods painlessly.

We have not been able to deal with the problems that parents have experienced in the palliative care process in our country. There are no researches about the difficulties that parents have in their care when they are about to die, communication problems, preference for death, and challenges of mourning after they have lost their children, and how they can manage it. However, the identification of the problems experienced in this process will make it easier and more humane to live this process.

A phenomenological approach were used in the research from qualitative research methods. In this research, the data collection process was carried out in steps.

Step 1; Communication difficulties that parents have with their children when they lose their children from cancer

Step 2; Death preferences of parents of children who lose their children from cancer and factors affecting them

Step 3; The views of parents about the mourning process.

During the research process, 18 mothers and 1 father were interviewed. As the data reached the saturation stage, at the end of 19 interviews, it was decided that the data were sufficient and the interviews were terminated. It is planned to interview at least 30 mothers who agreed to be interviewed for each stage.

In the project, data were collected by interviewing the mothers of children who were treated in the pediatric hematology-oncology service of Istanbul University Oncology Institute, but lost their lives due to cancer. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder with the permission of the parents. Then, the interviews were recorded, and the data were reported using the MAXQDA analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods.

Keywords: palliative care, cancer child, parents