“It's a Rollercoaster”: Cancer-Bereaved Parents Describe Their Grief Experiences (GP711)

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•Recognize the diversity of grief experienced by parents after their child dies from cancer, including the wide breadth of grief reactions that can occur within an individual.•Identify coping mechanisms commonly utilized by bereaved parents.•Describe bereaved parents' experiences with external bereavement support. Children with cancer suffer tremendously during treatment. A child's cancer causes significant upheaval in the family. A parent whose child has died of cancer is at risk for complicated grief, yet little is known about the totality of the grief experiences of cancer-bereaved parents. To understand the bereavement experiences of cancer-bereaved parents in order to inform strategies for providing optimal bereavement support. Thirty bereaved parents whose child died of cancer or related complications 1 to 6 years prior to study enrollment participated in recorded, semi-structured interviews to explore what helps and what hinders the bereavement process. Interviews were transcribed and de-identified. Responses to “Tell me about your grief experiences up to now” were analyzed using semantic content analysis. Bereaved parents reported diverse grief experiences, both collectively and individually. Many described a sense of unreality and the ongoing expectation that their deceased child would return home any moment. Parents discussed the challenges of grieving as a family, particularly grieving with spouses and other children. Parents frequently described the difficulty of facing special occasions after the death of their child, though a subset of parents viewed such occasions as opportunities for healing. Many parents found healing through charitable work or giving back to their communities. Bereaved parents found great value in relationships with other bereaved parents, noting that non-bereaved friends and family often “don't get it.” Bereaved parents had mixed experiences with individual and group therapy. Parental bereavement following the death of a child to cancer is a complex and variable process. Parents struggle with grieving as a family and with special occasions. They found benefit in charitable work and forming relationships with other bereaved parents. Interventions aimed at fostering these positive coping strategies may benefit cancer-bereaved parents.