References
Children, dying parents and COVID-19
Abstract
By Dr Steve Marshall, Professor Andrew Rowland, Susan Higgins, Christina Woods, Lisa Jones, Professor Sandeep Ranote, Dr Iain Lawrie and Fiona Murphy
Children's rights to be involved in matters that affect them are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Further, children have the right to respect for their family life (Article 8, Human Rights Act 1998 and European Convention on Human Rights). The death of a parent during childhood is a life-altering experience, with 111 UK children bereaved of a parent every day.
In the UK there have been over 64 000 excess deaths associated with COVID-19. Every deceased person is someone's relative, often with a family network including children.
The death of a parent can be highly emotive and families often want to protect children by exclusion. However, not being involved in an age and developmentally appropriate way can impact negatively on their health and wellbeing (Parsons, 2011). Childhood bereavement increases the risk of adverse outcomes in adolescence and adulthood (Kissil, 2016). To minimise these risks, end of life professionals support families to involve children when a parent is dying. Organisations such as Macmillan, Marie Curie and Child Bereavement UK have developed guidance. Norway and Sweden have placed a duty on health-care professionals to involve children when a parent has a life-threatening illness (Karidar et al, 2016).
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