Helping children expressing their views
To support children in expressing their views, health care professionals should:
Build a trusting relationship to ensure mutual respect, both in the short- and long-term perspectives; and
Consider children’s needs, including privacy and confidentiality issues that are important (but often neglected) for children and particularly relevant for older children.
Children are more likely to express their views when they trust the person they are talking to. To the extent possible, health care professionals should get to know the child and their personal needs and characteristics; and always be honest. Children may need to be reassured that their opinions and thoughts are important, even “small” concerns that may not seem important to the health professional.
Privacy is an important issue when working with children, especially when sharing or discussing information concerning their own health. Even with younger children, it may be important, or even necessary, to allocate time alone with the child to provide space for him or her to discuss whatever matters to them. It is critical to discuss confidentiality issues with children, at the outset and allow them time to ask questions. Access to confidential medical counselling and advice without parental authorisation should be ensured, irrespective of the child’s age, where this is needed for the child’s safety or well-being (for instance, in cases of suspected child abuse and maltreatment).
Strategies to support children in expressing their views include:
Making sure health care professionals introduce themselves by name and talk to the child using their name.
Supporting and inviting children to talk about to what extent they wish to participate, in what way and when.
Asking and clarifying the children’s preference about talking with a health worker in the presence of parents or alone.
Playing with the children while talking to help reduce the stress of discussing difficult topics and to be able to express themselves more freely.
Carrying out both active questioning and active listening.
Checking that the children understand the information that has been given.
Asking the children what they think, as this gives the children permission to express – professionals should not assume children will share their thoughts voluntarily.
Encouraging them to ask questions and reply.
Avoiding making judgements in all interactions.
Allowing more time for children to think, if they want and need it.
Respecting a child’s silence while ensuring that the child has opportunities at later stages to express their views if they wish to do so.
Taking into account the child’s biological rhythm, tiredness and length of appointments.
These strategies should be done across the health care teams and a continuum should be ensured, for example, with good communication between nurses, doctors or other professionals involved. All healthcare professionals working with children must be trained, including on communication skills. In some national contexts, health workers with a specific training, such as health play specialists or Child Life specialists, positively reinforce teams, supporting children and families by using age and developmentally appropriate methods to help them better understand and cope with health care situations and treatments, and by being a learning resource for other health professionals to develop similar skills.
Example: Children's Hospital in Munich establishes ChildLife Specialist programme
GOOD PRACTICE
Training / capacity-building of professionals
- 0-18 Guidance for doctors, UK General Medical Council - A section on communication can be found at the following webpage: Communication - ethical guidance - GMC (gmc-uk.org)
USEFUL TOOLS
The following Council of Europe guidance on how to connect with children may also prove useful when supporting children in health care related decision-making:
Connecting with children
Listen – Act – Change - Council of Europe Handbook on children’s participation - For professionals working for and with children
Participation depends on both adults and children believing in each other and in the process. Children need to know that professionals are interested in their opinion and want to find a solution which takes their views into account. Where professionals involved in decision making are doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, early years workers or managers who already know the child or children involved, children will use past experiences of those individuals as the basis for decisions about whether to trust them. For example, children who feel their teachers listen to and take seriously their idea during day-to-day classroom activities are more likely to talk to that teacher about serious concerns when they arise, such as bullying or sexual violence. Known professionals can build trusting connections with children through respecting their views.
Professionals should provide information about themselves, their role, the limits of confidentiality that will apply and the length of time they are likely to be involved in a child’s life. This can be done with the support of accessible information (e.g. leaflets or videos) prepared as described in the subsection above. But it is also important that this is provided to children in a personalised way. Sometimes known professionals will need to provide this kind of information because the decision-making process is new to the child. When the meeting is with a new person, and is not an emergency, children should be given information beforehand about what will happen. Where possible, professionals meeting children for the first time should be introduced by someone a child knows. For example, a parent or foster carer might introduce a new social worker to their child and stay with them until the child feels confident to meet with the social worker alone. Information is often best provided through a personalised conversation, so that children are encouraged to speak and feel listened to at the very start.
Even in the shortest encounter and in difficult circumstances, research evidence shows that effective communication can be established when professionals, such as immigration workers, share a little of themselves. With one question, about for example hobbies, doctors can create an atmosphere in which it is easier for a child to speak. One of the goals of this interaction is to ensure that children feel comfortable in stating or showing their preferences, and that they feel their wishes will be taken into account. Professionals should consider how they can build at least one moment of human connection into their first encounters with children.
The extent of time taken to build effective connections will depend on each child’s circumstances and on the skills of the professional. Investing the necessary time in this phase will help improve the quality of the process for everyone concerned. There may also be times throughout the participation processes where returning to this phase of building a connection and rapport becomes necessary. This is particularly likely in circumstances where a child has lost trust in adults who are meant to be responsible for them or their care. Professionals can promote sustained meaningful connections with children by being honest and available.
The team behind ISupport Rights-based standards for children has developed four case studies or scenarios that aim to demonstrate how the standards for child-centred healthcare can be applied in a range of clinical contexts and procedures. In each case, a clinical situation is given and explored, first without applying the standards and then, applying the rights-based standards. Whilst the first example within each case study results in a procedure being completed, this is often at the detriment of a child’s short and long-term well-being as their interests are not prioritised over those of the parent/carer, professional or institution.
The physical environment can also play an important role. For example, ensuring that children can express their views in a private office or room or that there are no interruptions, such as a support or other professionals often coming into the office or room. For younger children, a more friendly environment can also help them to feel at ease (i.e. a room with toys, sitting down on the floor or other strategies).
Child-friendly and family-friendly hospital environments
Sant Joan de Déu Children's Hospital in Barcelona, Spain
The Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital has a range of initiatives aiming to provide children and families with a comprehensive child- and family-friendly environment. Some measures include information for patients on how the visit to the hospital will take place, a comprehensive welcome guide, information for international patients, cultural mediation and other information of relevance.
There is a dedicated webpage for children and families, where all this information is gathered (Para pacientes y familias | Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (sjdhospitalbarcelona.org).
SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital has also started using a new magnetic resonance device that help in reducing the duration of anaesthesia, which some patients need for these procedures, as well as an improved and safe experience for the patient and the family members who accompany them. The magnetic resonance facility has also been made more child-friendly, with themed decoration based on the planets, outer space and magnetic fields. This means that children will find a spaceship with an astronaut and information about gravity, the planets and the distance between objects and planet Earth, as well as the friendly dog Laika. This theme-based decoration has been used around the entire Diagnostic Imaging Area, creating a much brighter and more orderly ambiance.
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