Bereavement support represents a fundamental standard of care within pediatric palliative care (PPC) teams. Assisting grieving siblings often involves distinct challenges. Providing care tailored to the child’s developmental stage can support children as they process their grief. To outline the perspectives of providers (including their mission and program development) regarding bereavement care for siblings, and to detail the bereavement follow-up interventions that hospital-based PPC teams offer to siblings across the country. A qualitative study was performed through semi-structured telephone interviews. At least one representative from each PPC team took part. All interviews were transcribed word-for-word and examined using grounded theory. 21 teams participated (response rate: 91%). Most teams (80%) delivered individual psychotherapy to families, while a small number (28%) provided group interventions. PPC teams aim to broaden their bereavement services and strengthen partnerships with community-based services. Nevertheless, constraints such as insufficient human resources, inadequate facilities and funding, and large geographical distances frequently hindered the growth of bereavement care programs. PPC teams consider support for bereaved siblings to be an essential component of palliative care. While PPC teams cannot address every need of grieving families, they can serve as key reference points, gathering information on local resources and delivering informed recommendations to families and community providers. Increased public recognition of childhood bereavement, together with closer collaboration with community organizations, could help reduce several recurring barriers to service expansion. Additional research is needed to assess bereavement services both in France and in other healthcare systems.
