Metaphors that shape parents’ perceptions of effective communication with healthcare practitioners following child death: a qualitative UK study

Objectives: To offer an interpretation of bereaved parents’ evaluations of communication with healthcare practitioners (HCPs) surrounding the death of a child.

Design: Interpretative qualitative study employing thematic and linguistic analyses of metaphor embedded in interview data.

Setting: England and Scotland.

Participants: 24 bereaved parents (21 women, 3 men).

Methods: Participants were recruited through the True Colours Trust website and mailing list, similar UK charities and word of mouth. Following interviews in person or via video-conferencing platforms (Skype/Zoom), transcripts first underwent thematic and subsequently linguistic analyses supported by NVivo. A focused analysis of metaphors used by the parents was undertaken to allow in-depth interpretation of how they conceptualised their experiences.

Results: The findings illuminate the ways parents experienced communication with HCPs surrounding the death of a child. Key findings from this study suggest that good communication with HCPs following the death of a child should acknowledge parental identity (and that of their child as an individual) and offer opportunities for them to enact this; taking account their emotional and physical experiences; and accommodate their altered experiences of time.

Conclusions: This study suggests that HCPs when communicating with bereaved parents need to recognise, and seek to comprehend, the ways in which the loss impacts on an individual’s identity as a parent, the ‘physical’ nature of the emotions that can be unleashed and the ways in which the death of a child can alter their metaphorical conceptions of time.