Development and Evaluation of a Peer Support Program for Parents Facing Perinatal Loss.

The purpose of this program evaluation was to understand the perspectives of peer parents and parents receiving support within a peer support program for perinatal bereavement at a midsized hospital within the midwestern United States. To document participants' perceptions of the program, a focus group was conducted with peer parents, and surveys were completed by both peer parents and parents receiving support. In this article we review our model of a peer support program for perinatal bereavement and report on parents' evaluation of the program. Recommendations through which other organizations can develop peer support programs for parents who have experienced a perinatal loss are provided.

Combining regional expertise to form a bereavement support alliance.

Providing compassionate bereavement care for families experiencing perinatal loss is a standard of care in most healthcare organizations. In this article, we describe the development of The Alliance of Perinatal Bereavement Support Facilitators, begun over 25 years ago in Chicago by staff who identified the need to reach out to colleagues at other area institutions for advice and support in this work. This collaboration created a regional support network that has resulted in a long-lasting, active, sustainable organization of excellence focused on enhancing practice, education, and perinatal bereavement care. Alliance activities center around four main areas: education, networking/support, policy, and recognizing outstanding service to families. By continuing to draw upon the collective talent, wisdom, and expertise of its members, The Alliance still serves grieving families and provides mentoring for future interdisciplinary team members engaged in this work. The path taken to build this organization can be used by professionals in other specialties who are looking to create their own alliance infrastructure based on mutual benefit and interest.

Perinatal grief and support spans the generations: parents' and grandparents' evaluations of an intergenerational perinatal bereavement program.

PURPOSE: As perinatal loss, miscarriage, still birth, or neonatal death may result in signs and symptoms of grief in the entire family, perinatal bereavement programs (PBPs) should consider offering intergenerational services. The purpose of this program evaluation was to identify and evaluate siblings' and grandparents' utilization of a hospital-based PBP's intergenerational support services and education offerings with regard to the entire family's coping with the loss. METHODS: Written program evaluation surveys of parents and grandparents, with an opportunity for free response, along with parent phone follow-up, were utilized to evaluate whether a variety of inpatient/outpatient services for parents, siblings, and grandparents were useful to the entire family. RESULTS: Parents indicated that when siblings and grandparents were included in the PBP's services and education offerings, utilization of the services was useful to the entire family. Furthermore, grandparents also found the utilization of the PBP's intergenerational services to be useful in their own and their child's coping with the loss. CONCLUSION: This program evaluation affirms the usefulness of the offering of intergenerational inpatient and outpatient services by PBPs for entire families.