Oncologist urges inclusion of youth in end-of-life care to prevent delayed grief
In a personal account published in The Guardian Australia, the Australian oncologist describes a teenage grandson’s presence at a dying patient’s bedside as evidence that exposure to decline is necessary for developing coping mechanisms.
Australian oncologist Ranjana Srivastava has published an opinion piece in The Guardian Australia arguing that the medicalisation of ageing has effectively excluded young people from witnessing death. Srivastava contends that shielding youth from the realities of decline and mortality prevents them from developing necessary coping mechanisms, ultimately postponing their ability to reconcile with these issues until middle age.
The article, published on 14 July 2026, is grounded in a personal account of Srivastava treating a patient in his early 70s who deteriorated after major cancer surgery. The patient presented with failing kidneys and dismal blood pressure, leading Srivastava to conclude that he was dying. The underlying request from the family was for transparency regarding the prognosis, a task Srivastava described as emotionally wrenching but necessary to avoid futile life-prolonging measures.
During the consultation, Srivastava encountered the patient’s grandson, described as no older than 20. The young man facilitated communication with other family members via a split-screen FaceTime call, as the patient did not speak English. Srivastava noted that while the grandson held his grandfather’s hand and cried, displaying bewilderment and love, he remained at the bedside throughout the discussion of the grim prognosis.
Srivastava observed that the medicalisation of ageing has moved infirmity and dying into professional institutions, causing youth to view hospitals as restricted zones rather than spaces for care. She suggested that in a digital culture that often glorifies physical perfection, the hospital forces a reckoning with incapacity and vulnerability. She argued that avoiding illness does not erase the fact of it, and that trial and error at the bedside is how young people learn the emotional vocabulary to handle serious illness.
The author, identified as an award-winning author and Fulbright scholar, also highlighted the burden on medical staff. She cited a colleague’s observation of moral injury among doctors and nurses who become surrogate families for distressed patients who lack support. Srivastava concluded by saluting the grandson’s courage and hoping that more families would carefully expose their youth to the realities of life and death.