Dying Parents With Young Children Need Extra Care

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A new study conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill suggested that dying parents with young children need an extra supportive care.

The fact that someone does not have much time to live is already hard enough to cope up, let alone knowing he or she has a baby that will be left behind.

"What is unique about patients with young children is the extraordinary psychological suffering related to parenting," said the study's lead author Dr. Eliza Park.

"The patient in these situations truly is the entire family unit," she added

The study that was published in the journal BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care stated that dying patients do not only need medical assistance, but also the support of a health care professional that can help them in their journey towards the end-of-life a bit easier.

To arrive at their conclusion, the researchers surveyed 344 fathers who had lost their wife to cancer. These fathers had two kids that were 18-years old and below when they lost their spouses.

Almost half of the women died at the place they chose to be in, while 41 percent died at home. Two thirds of the spouses were under hospice services when they were being treated for cancer.

Some 26 percent of the women were having a hard time coping up with the idea that they were going to die, while 38 percent did not have any chance to bid goodbye to their children before their eventual death.

These patients do not only worry about themselves but also the children they will leave behind. Certainly, they know how hard it is for the kids to grow up without a parent to guide them. Who will explain their prognosis to their children, once they reach the right age to understand everything? This is only one question many of these patients ask.

Many of these patients that have children want to make sure they enjoy their last time with their family without being a burden to them. In a report by Medical Daily, they stated that some of these patients do not know what they will do as soon as they hear the news of their fate.

"Having more time with their children without being a burden to their family is often their primary goal," said Denice Sheehan, a researcher from Ohio's Kent State University College of Nursing.

"Mothers tend to worry about how their children will live without them, who will take care of them and nurture them throughout their lives."

This mentality normally gets into dying parents who haven't experienced a loss in their life.