Telling Adolescents a Parent is Dying

Background: When a parent is terminally ill, one of the major challenges facing families is informing children of the parent\u27s condition and prognosis. This study describes four ways in which parents disclose information about a parent\u27s life-threatening illness to their adolescent children. Methods: We audio-recorded and transcribed 61 individual interviews with hospice patients who were recruited from a large hospice in northeastern Ohio, their spouses/partners, and their adolescent children. The interviews were coded and analyzed using a constant comparison approach. Results and Conclusions: Families inform adolescents about the progression of a parent\u27s terminal illness in characteristic ways that remain fairly consistent throughout the illness, and are aimed at easing the adolescents\u27 burden and distress. The families engaged in the process of disclosure in one of four ways: measured telling, skirted telling, matter-of-fact telling, and inconsistent telling. These results will inform the development of interventions that assist families with disclosure and are tailored to each family\u27s communication style.