The plight of Jade Goody, the terminally ill reality TV star, has highlighted the need to help children prepare for the death of a loved one, according to a psychologist.
The 27-year-old Big Brother star’s condition worsened over the weekend and the mother-of-two’s family say they are preparing for the end.
But Cynthia McVey, head of psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, thinks that her tragic and very public demise could result in more being done to aid children through the grieving process.
“She’s done a great deal I think in many ways in helping people realise that you can prepare children for somebody dying,” said McVey.
She continued: “One of the problems is I think that we try and protect children from hurting and in doing that,” said McVey. “We can stop them from grieving which is not really appropriate.
“You’ll often find that the medical staff will be marvellous and they will say you can go to this organisation who will tell you how to have a memory box or release a balloon if its been a sudden death. And having a child an opportunity to say goodbye, although it’s hard at the time, they take that with them as they grow up and that means they understand that at that time they did the best they could.”
Last updated: 22 March 2009, 13:16
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