A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis Review of Longitudinal Qualitative Research in Gerontology.

Background And Objectives: Gerontologists have long been interested in longitudinal qualitative research (LQR), yet ambiguity remains about best practices. The purpose of this review was to conduct a qualitative evidence synthesis to identify strengths and limitations in existing gerontological LQR.

Research Design And Methods: We searched for studies published in English before September 2017, using longitudinal qualitative methods and focusing on gerontology.

Pursuing a Desired Future: Continuity and Change in a Long-Term-Care Community.

New ways of planning, assessing, and measuring cultural change are needed in long-term care. Much effort is focused on person-centered care; less attention is paid to achieving localized change. Long-term-care communities need innovative approaches for identifying local cultural features to preserve and others to reconfigure.

Conceptual and design issues in instrument development for research with bereaved parents.

Many childhood deaths in the United States occur in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and parents have special needs in this death context. As an interdisciplinary research team, we discuss conceptual and design issues encountered in creating a new instrument, the Bereaved Parent Needs Assessment-PICU, for assessing parents' needs in this setting. Using a qualitative approach, our team previously explored how the culture and related ways of providing care in one urban Midwestern children's hospital PICU affected parents' bereavement needs and experiences.

The Bereaved Parent Needs Assessment: a new instrument to assess the needs of parents whose children died in the pediatric intensive care unit*.

Objectives: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Bereaved Parent Needs Assessment, a new instrument to measure parents' needs and need fulfillment around the time of their child's death in the pediatric intensive care unit. We hypothesized that need fulfillment would be negatively related to complicated grief and positively related to quality of life during bereavement.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Parental bereavement needs in the pediatric intensive care unit: review of available measures.

Background: Pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) are highly technological settings in which advanced care is used to restore health to critically ill children; however, they are also places where children die. Understanding the needs of parents bereaved in this setting is essential for better family care.

Objective: To systematically review the extant literature to identify instruments potentially useful for assessing the needs of parents bereaved in the PICU.

Examining the needs of bereaved parents in the pediatric intensive care unit: a qualitative study.

The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a high-tech setting aimed at restoring health to critically ill children. When childhood death occurs in the PICU, it constitutes a special context for parent bereavement. The purpose of this interdisciplinary qualitative research was to gain a deeper understanding of parents' needs around the time of their child's death in the PICU.

Exploring parents' environmental needs at the time of a child's death in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Objective: Many childhood deaths in the United States occur in intensive care settings. The environmental needs of parents experiencing their child's death in a pediatric intensive care unit must be understood to design facilities that comfort at the time of death and promote healing after loss. The purpose of this study is to explore parents' environmental needs during their child's hospitalization and death in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Implementing a triangulation protocol in bereavement research: a methodological discussion.

Triangulation is a comparative strategy for examining data that strengthens qualitative and multi-method research. Despite the benefits of triangulation noted in the research methods literature, few concrete models for operationalization of protocols exist. Lack of documentation of explicit triangulation procedures is especially true in the area of bereavement research.

Special considerations in conducting bereavement focus groups.

Focus groups conducted with grieving people pose special challenges. However, this method can be successfully used in bereavement research especially when group interaction is central to the research aim. This article builds on key articles discussing ethical, methodological, logistical, and analytical issues in conducting focus groups with vulnerable populations (Owen, 2001; Seymour, Bellamy, Gott, Ahmedzai, & Clark, 2002).

Life as death scholars: passion, personality, and professional perspectives.

In death-averse American society, the field of thanatology is often socially and academically isolating. The purpose of this article is to describe the experiences of a group of death scholars and share insights gained as members of an interdisciplinary team. They discuss the ways in which they have created a special "safe" space for death study collaboration.

The spiritual needs of parents at the time of their child's death in the pediatric intensive care unit and during bereavement: a qualitative study.

Objective: Death is common in pediatric intensive care units. A child's death can shatter parents' personal identities, disrupt their relationships, and challenge their worldviews. Spirituality is a human characteristic that engenders transcendence; seeks meaning, purpose, and connection to others; and helps to construct a coherent worldview.