This project will consolidate knowledge to develop an evidence-based guide for healthcare professionals and researchers that will empower these professionals to use parent-preferred vocabulary in their practice, research designs, and conversations with bereaved parents. We will leverage existing data to:
- Perform linguistic analysis of Stillbirth CRE’s existing qualitative data from bereaved parents and health professionals to map the words used to talk about loss.
- Perform quantitative corpus analyses of the written linguistic landscape of perinatal loss to underpin the qualitative findings and highlight similarities and discrepancies in how perinatal loss is described by different groups. This will include a broad range of texts from news articles to social media groups for bereaved parents.
- Compare and consolidate empirical findings with the recommendations of the NHMRC-approved 2024 edition of the Care Around Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Clinical Practice Guideline (CASaND) and existing linguistic literature on perinatal loss bereavement.
- Validate findings through working groups consisting of linguistic researchers, healthcare professionals and bereaved parents.
This study will inform the development of the guide, which will be available as a digital resource and integrated into the IMPROVE education program and national perinatal loss care pathway digital hub of resources.