Abstract
Introduction:
Hospital-based supports for families following the death of a child are rare. Virtual interventions may address key barriers to providing bereavement care, but little is known about their acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy.
Methods:
Our hospital’s palliative care program offered a six-week closed virtual support group for bereaved parents five times between 2021 and 2024. Measures were administered pre- and post-intervention to assess changes in meaning making and quality of life. A feedback survey and recruitment, attendance, and retention rates evaluated acceptability and feasibility.
Results:
In total, 36 parents (76% women) attended at least one group session and provided data. On average, participants attended 4.53 of 6 sessions. Participants endorsed high satisfaction with the intervention. There were no significant changes in meaning making or quality of life.
Conclusion:
This virtual support group was acceptable and feasible for bereaved parents. Additional research with larger, more diverse samples and more robust designs is needed.
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