For Patients & Families | Grief Educational Materials

As you begin to navigate your grief and loss, we have assembled a series of grief materials that families find helpful to read and review.

“When a Child Dies: Planning Acts of Love and Legacy” is a detailed funeral planning guide that helps families through the process and consider how they want to honor their child and plan specific details.

• Download: When a Child Dies: Planning Acts of Love and Legacy
• Download: Cuando un Hijo Muere: Planificando Actos de Legado y Amor

Our “When Grief is New” booklet is designed for parents and families, offering guidance around understanding grief, and navigating grief and loss following the death of your child.

• Download: "When Grief is New" in English
• Download: "When Grief is New" in Spanish

Boston Children’s Hospital Child Life Services has compiled “Guiding Your Children Through Grief and Loss,” aimed at providing guidance around supporting sibling grief, including use of developmentally appropriate language, helpful explanations, and book suggestions.

• Download: "Guiding Your Children Through Grief and Loss"

We also offer “tip sheets” we have developed in the following focused topic areas:

• Learning about Grief: Common Themes
• Navigating Grief: Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit
• Supporting Yourself in Grief: Concrete Strategies
• Special Days, Holidays, and Anniversaries
• Secondary Losses: The “Ripple Effects” of Grief
• Continuing Bonds: A Modern Take on Grief
• Timelines of Grief: Myths and Facts

For questions or for more information, please reach out to SoYun Kwan at bereavement.program@childrens.harvard.edu.