This paper in Archives of Disease of Childhood gives guidance on child-centred care, which place children and young people at the centre of policy and practice.
CITATION: Fifteen-minute consultation: Guide to communicating with children and young people
Gail Davison et al
Correspondence to Dr Gail Davison gdavison05@qub.ac.uk
https://ep.bmj.com/content/108/2/91?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&ut...
ABSTRACT
This article suggests communicative steps and strategies to help healthcare professionals achieve the ideals of child-centred care, which place children and young people at the centre of policy and practice. For those with 15 s, not 15 min, our suggestions can be summarised like this: help children be active agents in their own care by asking, listening well, being curious and explaining things clearly in an accessible but not condescending way.
EXTRACT
‘Child-centred care’ (CCC) means centring our thoughts and actions on the children and young people (abbreviated to children) we care for.1 It means having the humility to be outsiders to their worlds and gaining the right of entry by being sensitive to and thoughtful about their experiences, perspectives and priorities.2 It means tailoring the care we offer to their needs. For care to live up to this ideal, we need to help children be active agents in their own care.3 This is easier said than done because power is unequally distributed in paediatrics: our status as adults with professional authority can prevent children from engaging authentically with us.1 This can make children overly obliging or distant rather than frank about their needs...
Best wishes, Neil
CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
