No / Hospices for children and adolescents in the United Kingdom provide care to the
bodies of deceased children, in specially-designed chilled bedrooms called ‘cool
rooms’. In an effort to develop resources to support hospice practitioners to provide
this specialist area of care, the study aimed to identify the factors that influence
decision-making when moving and handling children’s bodies after death in a hospice
cool bedroom. An internet-based survey was sent to all practitioners employed by one
children’s hospice. A total of 94.9% of eligible staff responded (n=56). An inductive
approach to thematic analysis was undertaken, using a six-phase methodological
framework. Three core themes were identified that inform practitioners’ perception of
appropriateness of moving and handling decisions: care of the body, stages of care,
and method of handling. The complexity of decision-making and variation in practice
was identified. Practitioners relied on both analytical and initiative decision-making,
with more experienced practitioners using an intuitive approach. Evidence-based
policy and training influence the perception of appropriateness, and the decisions and
behaviour of practitioners. The development of a policy and education framework
would support practitioners in caring for children’s bodies after death, standardising
expectations and measures of competence in relation to moving and handling tasks.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18612 |
| Date | 02 October 2021 |
| Creators | Tatterton, Michael J., Honour, A., Kirby, L., Billington, D. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, No full-text in the repository |
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