Family Communication in the Crisis of a Child's Fatal Illness: A Literature Review and Analysis

Abstract

When faced with the tragedy of losing a child to a terminal illness, communication is a crucial factor in alleviating stresses and anxieties experienced by the child and his family. Two opposing modes of communication have been advocated-the protective approach in which the ill child is shielded from knowledge of the disease diagnosis and prognosis-and the open approach, which encourages provision of an environment in which the child feels free to express concerns and ask questions about his condition. This paper is devoted to an examination of family communication about the crisis of the dying child from these two perspectives. The rationale for the protective and open approaches is discussed in terms of the sources of the child's anxiety, his conception of death, and his observed behavioral response to the illness.