Objectives
Each year, parents of nearly 400,000 children in the US are diagnosed with cancer. Approximately 20% of these individuals have an advanced form of the disease, for which there is no known cure. These parents face difficult medical, psychological, and social challenges across their illness trajectory: they not only have to grapple with the physical symptoms of their cancer and its treatment, but they also must explain their illness and prognosis to their children. In the context of anticipatory loss and grief counseling, AI has also emerged as a tool for legacy-building and remembrance of a deceased loved one as a way to fill the psychological void in a survivor’s life.
The overall purpose of Kenneth Tercyak’s IPAI project was to advance understanding of the potential uses of AI and GAI as a mental health tool in children’s bereavement following their loss of a parent to cancer. This study was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, the team led key informant interviews (KII) to examine when CMHP believed psychological interventions should be initiated for children grieving the loss of a parent to cancer based upon the characteristics of the child, parent, and their family’s circumstances. In Phase 2, these findings were used to develop and deploy an online survey (completed by N~300 CMHP) about their opinions about the potential role of GAI as a resource for supporting children in this circumstance. All study data are now available for analysis.
Outcomes
Professionals were surveyed about their therapeutic approaches to caring for children when parents have incurable cancer under different scenarios. Data from physicians, psychologists, social workers, hospital chaplains, and community health workers were analyzed (N=294; 69% male, 72% white, 26% Latino, 56% rural/underserved communities) . Attitudes surrounding the timing of interventions across the parent’s cancer journey were compared, including how and when professionals believed AI resources could be introduced.
Across 10 dimensions of childhood, children’s premorbid exposure to traumatic events, a surviving parent’s presence, and child age were the most important factors to consider when making supportive and palliative care decisions in this context. Professionals reported being more likely to introduce resources as early as possible in the parent’s illness (i.e., upon diagnosis). Regarding the use of AI, 87% foresaw its role in supporting children’s mental health: 93.2% agreed that a grieving child could be supported by interacting with an AI generated version of their deceased parent’s likeness. Participants were conflicted over when such a tool could be first introduced–upon a parent’s illness diagnosis (19.4%), during a parent’s treatment (19.0%), or as part of a parent’s hospice care (12.6%). None believed it to be appropriate following the loss of the parent to cancer.
From these results, it can be concluded that AI may become a therapeutic resource for parents with incurable cancers to use to help support their children. The team emphasizes that additional research on the impact of AI on children’s mental health, grief, and psychological well-being over time is needed.
Team
Kenneth Tercyak
