Background The period after a child is discharged from hospital is generally described as challenging for the parents. Their satisfaction with the health services received is an important indicator of the quality of care. eHealth devices are increasingly used in health care to support communication with parents. Differences in levels of parental satisfaction by modality of provided care or by parental background are largely unknown. This study aimed to describe satisfaction with health care between sociodemographic groups of parents, who either received or did not receive an eHealth device for communication between parents and hospital staff as a supplement to routine care after a child’s discharge from neonatal or paediatric surgery departments. Methods Data from a quasi-experimental study was collected in the south of Sweden, between 2019 and 2021. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL) Healthcare Satisfaction Generic Module was used to assess the parents’ satisfaction with different dimensions of health care. Seventy parents of children hospitalized in a neonatal or a paediatric surgery department were enrolled in intervention (eHealth device, n = 36) and control (no eHealth device, n = 34) groups. Results The parents reported high overall satisfaction with the health care provided and were also highly satisfied within different dimensions of care. Moreover, they reported high satisfaction with using an eHealth device, although having support from the eHealth device was related to neither higher nor lower levels of satisfaction with care. There was a significant difference between fathers and mothers in the multivariate sub-analysis in certain instances regarding satisfaction with communication and the level of inclusion. Conclusions Parents were very satisfied with the health care provided, whether or not they received eHealth. Further research looking at groups with and without the support of an eHealth device is required to further develop future paediatric and neonatal care interventions. Communication and support through eHealth can be a tool to alleviate the distress parents experience after their child’s hospital admission, accommodate the family’s transfer to home, and increase satisfaction with care, but it needs to be evaluated before being implemented. Trial registration Clinical Trials NCT04150120, first registration 4/11/2019.
Determining the child's best interests in a hospital setting will ideally involve the combined views of children, parents, and healthcare professionals. However, few studies have explored parents' experiences of their child's best interests when they engage with the healthcare system. Therefore, this study aimed to explore parents' experiences of their child's best interests during hospitalisation. A descriptive qualitative inductive design using face-to-face parent-child combined interviews, analysed by latent content analysis, was used. Sixteen parents recruited from a tertiary hospital in Western Australia were interviewed. Collaboration, development of trustworthy relationships, and effective communication were essential in shaping parents' experiences of their child's best interests during hospitalisation.
Background Mental health problems among adolescents is a global challenge. During the transition to adolescence, physiological, psychological, and social changes occur, leading to increased vulnerability. Thus, adolescent boys are less likely to seek help for mental health problems, which makes them an undetected group. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of adolescent boys' experiences of mental health and school health service.Methods An inductive, qualitative design was chosen using three focus group interviews and three individual interviews. The study included 18 adolescent boys in 7th grade, in a school located in a medium-sized municipality in Norway. The interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were followed in this study.Results The overall theme "barriers towards seeking help", and three categories- navigating stigma and privacy concerns; perceptions of self-responsibility; and lacking knowledge of mental health problems and help-seeking-described the adolescent boys experiences. The awareness and willingness to seek help were present, but there are barriers preventing the adolescent boys from acting on that willingness.Conclusions Lack of knowledge and a non-permissive culture for mental health problems among adolescents contributes to decreased help-seeking behaviour among adolescent boys. The school health service is the most related health service for adolescents and should focus on being available and strengthening empowerment and mental health literacy through the development and implementation of interventions to promote mental health.
Objective To assess the intervention fidelity and explore contextual factors affecting the process of implementing a mobile phone text messaging intervention in improving adherence to and retention in care among adolescents living with HIV, their families and their healthcare providers in southern Ethiopia.Design A convergent mixed-methods design guided by the process evaluation theoretical framework and the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework was used alongside a randomised controlled trial to examine the fidelity and explore the experiences of participants in the intervention.Setting Six hospitals and five health centres provide HIV treatment and care to adolescents in five zones in southern Ethiopia.Participants Adolescents (aged 10–19), their families and their healthcare providers.Intervention Mobile phone text messages daily for 6 months or standard care (control).Results 153 participants were enrolled in the process evaluation. Among the 153 enrolled in the intervention arm, 78 (49.02%) were male and 75 (43.8%) were female, respectively. The mean and SD age of the participants is 15 (0.21). The overall experiences of implementing the text messages reminder intervention were described as helpful in terms of treatment support for adherence but had room for improvement. During the study, 30 700 text messages were sent, and fidelity was high, with 99.4% successfully delivered text messages during the intervention. Barriers such as failed text messages delivery, limitations in phone ownership and technical limitations affected fidelity. Technical challenges can hinder maintenance, but a belief in the future of digital communication permeates the experiences of the text message reminders.Conclusions Overall fidelity was high, and participants’ overall experiences of mobile phone text messages were expressed as helpful. Contextual factors, such as local telecommunications networks and local electric power, as well as technical and individual factors must be considered when planning future interventions.Trial registration number PACTR202107638293593.
INTRODUCTION:General Movement assessment (GMA) is considered the golden standard for early identification of infants with a high risk of developing cerebral palsy (CP). The aim of this study was to explore parents' lived experience of early risk assessment for CP using a mobile application for home video recording after discharge from hospital stay in the newborn period.METHODS:An inductive qualitative design using a hermeneutical phenomenological approach was chosen, and fourteen parents with children at risk of CP were interviewed at home. The hermeneutical phenomenological approach describes humans' lived experiences of a specific phenomenon with a possibility of deeper understanding of the expressed statements. The interviews were analyzed using the fundamental lifeworld existential dimensions as guidelines for describing the parents' lived experience.RESULTS:The overall understanding of the parents' experience was 'Finding control in an uncontrolled life situation'. During the often-long hospitalizations, the parents struggled with loss of control and difficulty in understanding what was going on. The use of the mobile application followed by a swift result made them feel in control and have a brighter view of the future.CONCLUSIONS:The findings suggest that the mobile application did not seem to worry the parents. Instead, it provided the parents with a sense of active participation in the care and treatment of their child. The mobile application should be accompanied with clear instructions and guidelines for the parents and details about how and when the result is given.
Abstract Background A specific eHealth device, a surf tablet, was developed for bridging between advanced in-hospital care and children’s homes. Since little is known about determinators for parental eHealth usage, the study’s aim was to explore if parents’ usage of the device was associated with their eHealth literacy, or their satisfaction with their child’s healthcare or with the specific surf tablet. Methods In this explorative usage and questionnaire study, parents to neonates who were discharged home after advanced in-hospital care were included. Their surf tablet usage at maximum 30 days after discharge was reported as frequency (%) of active days (usage days/days having the device) and median number of tablet activities (chat and photo) per usage day. eHealth literacy (eHealth Literacy Questionnaire; eHLQ), healthcare satisfaction (PedsQL Healthcare Satisfaction Generic Module), and satisfaction with the surf tablet were explored regarding tablet usage. Statistics were described in median (range) and (%) using non-parametric and regression models (p < 0.05). Results Parents to 32 children (11 premature, 21 operated) were included. Active days with eHealth communication using the device was 39% (9.0/29.5), with 2.0 (1.0-4.2) usage occasions per active day. Activity on the tablet was higher among parents reporting to be very satisfied or satisfied with the device (n = 25) compared with neutral/dissatisfied parents (n = 7) (2.8 vs. 2.2 vs. 1.6 activities) (p = 0.030), while their frequency of active days did not differ (31.6% vs. 38.3% vs. 40%) (p = 0.963). A higher eHealth literacy was not associated with frequency of active days (0.926 (0.652–1.317); p = 0.659) or number of eHealth activities (0.973 (0.758–1.250); p = 0.825). Healthcare satisfaction was not associated with higher frequency of active days 0.996 (0.983–1.009; p = 0.519); neither was number of eHealth activities 1.001 (0.991–1.011; p = 0.883). Conclusion In this study, eHealth usage was associated with parental satisfaction with the specific eHealth device, but not with eHealth literacy or healthcare satisfaction. To assure equal access to healthcare when using eHealth, the user-friendliness of the device seems to be crucial, and technical support needs to be in place. ClinicalTrials.gov registration identifier NCT04150120 (04/11/2019).
BackgroundThe development and evaluation of eHealth interventions in clinical care should be accompanied by a thorough assessment of their implementation. The NASSS (Non-adoption, Abandonment, and Challenges to the Scale-Up, Spread, and Sustainability of Health and Care Technologies) framework was designed to facilitate the implementation and scale-up of health technology programs, providing an option for analyzing the progression of these initiatives as they are implemented in real-time. Considering health care provider perspectives within the framework for implementation offers valuable insights into the early identification of barriers and facilitators in the implementation of potentially effective eHealth innovations. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of studies on eHealth interventions that encompass longer time frames and delve into the complexities of scaling up and sustaining such interventions within real-world health care environments. ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the perspectives and insights of health care professionals (HCPs) regarding the implementation of an eHealth intervention in pediatric health care while applying the NASSS framework to theorize and evaluate the conditions influencing the implementation of eHealth solutions. MethodsSemistructured interviews were performed with health care providers, including both staff and management personnel, within a university pediatric hospital (N=10). The data collection process occurred concurrently with a clinical trial focused on developing and assessing an eHealth app for self-management in pediatric care following hospital discharge. Using an abductive approach, the interviews were initially analyzed qualitatively and subsequently mapped onto the 7 domains of the NASSS framework to identify factors influencing implementation, encompassing facilitators, barriers, and varying levels of complexity. ResultsIn the realm of pediatric care, the family was identified as the primary unit of care, and patient heterogeneity was a prominent feature. The implementation of eHealth tools, while deemed usable and flexible, was also seen as a delicate balance between safety and adaptability, highlighting challenges related to health care integration. Child participation and secrecy, especially for adolescents, contributed to the complexity of using eHealth. HCPs had high eHealth literacy, and thus challenges concerning adoption were related to work adaptations and the risk of “app overload.” The readiness for implementation was experienced as induced through the research study and the pandemic situation. However, to move from research to implementation in clinical practice, organizational challenges identified a need to update the concept of care and ensure activity measurements. In a wider context, HCPs raised concerns related to regulatory requirements for documentation, public procurement, and data safety. Implementation became more complex due to a lack of overview in a large organization. ConclusionsImportant perspectives for implementation were considerations of regulatory requirements, as well as the need for a shared vision of eHealth and the establishment of eHealth-related work as part of regular health care. Key contextual factors that support reach and impact are communication channels between different levels at the hospital and a need for paths and procedures compatible with legal, technological, and security concerns. Further research should focus on how eHealth interventions are perceived by children, adolescents, their parents, and other stakeholders. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04150120; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04150120
BACKGROUND:Children and youth who experience divorce are found to have increased risk of emotional and behavioural adjustment problems. Different prevention programmes have been developed to help and support children. Previous studies have focused on the child or the group leader's experience with divorce groups, but studies describing parent's experience are missing. The aim of this study was to explore parents' experiences of their child's participation in divorce groups.METHODS:An inductive, qualitative and descriptive design was applied with philosophical orientation in naturalistic inquiry based on the outlines of a phenomenological perspective. Two fathers and three mothers from two different counties in Norway participated whereof four of them were interviewed twice. Systematic text condensation was used for the analysis.RESULTS:Three themes emerged from the analysis: encouraging the child, missing communication and challenging situations. Parents described how they encouraged the child to attend divorce groups and hoped they would gain a deeper understanding of their parents' divorce and their own feelings. Missing communication relates to lack of information about the groups from the school, the group leader and from the child. Missing information was found to be a challenge for the parents and made them think that the divorce group was beneficial for the child but maybe not always for the family. Parents described challenging situations due to the divorce, and they struggled to understand their child and their own behaviour.CONCLUSIONS:The opportunity for the child to talk to other children in the same situation in divorce groups was positive for the parents. To be beneficial for both children and their parents, structured information and cooperation among the school, the child and both parents are important. The knowledge from this study can support the development and use of intervention programmes in the future.
Aim: The aim of the study was to describe different eHealth literacy domains among parents of children needing paediatric surgery in Sweden, and the correlation between these eHealth literacy domains and parents' socioeconomic factors and demographic characteristics. Design: Descriptive correlational design. Method: Thirty-five Swedish-speaking parents participated as a historical control group within an ongoing Swedish clinical trial developing eHealth solutions for families after hospital care; of these, 30 completed the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire and the socioeconomic and demographic questionnaire. Results: Of the seven eHealth literacy domains assessed, parents' strengths lay in those pertaining to their own digital competence, control and safety, while their weakness concerned their motivation to engage with digital services, and their ability to access eHealth platforms that work. Overall, parents presented adequate eHealth literacy. Of the five socioeconomic and demographic variables assessed (i.e. monthly wages, education levels, age, gender and residency), monthly wages correlated the strongest, and positively, with the seven eHealth literacy domains.
Children with cancer experience fragmented school attendance during treatment. Telepresence robots that connect them with school during treatment periods were explored through an intervention involving participant observation followed by semi-structured interviews from 2020-22 with children with cancer, their class teachers, and classmates. We used an abductive approach, inspired by the Agential Realism theory and Situational Analysis. The use of telepresence robots in education enables hospitalized children to actively participate in real-time social activities with their classmates. However, consistent monitoring is necessary to ensure the success of this integration process as the classmates can lose interest in providing support to a child with cancer.
Background: This study explores expectations for telepresence robots as a tool to reduce absence in education as school absence negatively influences children's academic advancement and psychosocial wellbeing. Design: A qualitative semi-structured interview study. Method and population: Using convenience sampling, we interviewed 11 children aged 8-17 years with cancer (n = 4), neuromuscular diseases (n = 3) or anxiety (n = 4) who had a high level of school absence (more than 15 days' absence in a school year), and who had recently encountered a telepresence robot; and eight of their teachers. A thematical analysis and a deductive approach based on the theory of Technological frames were used. Results: The children's and teachers' expectations of how telepresence robots could support them in reducing their school absence were identified and structured in three categories and five main themes: 1) Nature of technology: a) Learning, b) Sociality, c) Additional supportive resources; 2) Technology strategy: a) Flexible school day; 3) Technology in use: a) New workflows. Conclusion: This study indicates that implementation requires additional resources from teachers. Children with disease-related school absence and their teachers expect telepresence robots to reconnect the children socially, by maintaining or creating new friendships, and academically, by fostering inclusion and reducing absence.
Abstract Background: Inadequate health literacy has been shown to impact patient satisfaction with health care, a frequently used measure of health care quality. Low parental satisfaction with paediatric care can lead to lower compliance with prescribed medication and treatment and thus worsen the child's health outcomes. This study explored the relationship between the health literacy of parents of long-term ill children and parents’ satisfaction with the health care, and whether this relationship varied by the introduction of an eHealth device. Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on the data collected in a larger clinical study from questionnaires filled out by 77 parents of chronically ill children admitted to neonatal and specialized surgery departments in southern Sweden between August 2019 and June 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests, Spearman's rank correlation and multivariate logistic regression. Results: A substantial and statistically significant correlation was observed between parental health literacy and almost all dimensions of parental satisfaction, with the highest correlation between health literacy and satisfaction with information (r=0.476, p<0.001). Health literacy was a significant independent predictor of high satisfaction with information and technical skills, and high overall satisfaction. An eHealth communication device moderated the relationship between health literacy and satisfaction with communication. Conclusion: The study indicates that health literacy is among important predictors of parents’ satisfaction with health care. Health services should be sensitive to variations in parental health literacy and should tailor information and communication to parental needs to secure the best health outcomes for chronically sick children. Further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical benefits of assessing parental health literacy for child health outcomes. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04150120.
Objectives: To describe the prevalence of feeding problems (FPs) in children aged 10, 18, and 36 months who visited Swedish Child Health Services. Methods: Parents of children attending regular 10-, 18-, and 36-month visits at the child health care centers (CHCCs) in Sweden answered a questionnaire including a Swedish version of the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) as well as demographic questions. CHCCs were stratified according to a sociodemographic index. Results: Parents of 238 girls (115) and boys (123) completed the questionnaire. Using international thresholds for FP detection, 8.4% of the children had a total frequency score (TFS) indicating FP. Based on the total problem score (TPS), the result was 9.3%. The mean score for all children was 62.7 for TFS (median 60; range 41–100), and 2.2 for TPS (median 0; range 0–22). Children aged 36 months had a significantly higher average TPS score than younger children, but TFS scores did not differ by age. There were no significant difference in gender, parents’ education, or sociodemographic index. Conclusion: Prevalence numbers found in this study are similar to those found in studies with BPFAS in other countries. Children 36 months of age had a significantly higher prevalence of FP than children aged 10 and 18 months. Young children with FP should be referred to health care specializing in FP and PFD. Creating awareness of FP and PFD in primary care facilities and child health services may facilitate early detection and intervention for children with FP.
Access to healthcare can facilitate parents' self-management of their children's care. Healthcare access can be described as consisting of six dimensions: approachability, acceptability, affordability, availability, appropriateness, and aperture. The aim of this study was to analyse these dimensions of healthcare access experienced by parents caring for their children at home following paediatric surgery. The method-directed content analysis, conducted with the six-dimensional framework of access to healthcare as a guide, was used to analyse twenty-two interviews with parents of children treated with paediatric surgery. All six dimensions were represented in the results. Acceptability was the most frequent dimension, followed by appropriateness and approachability. Affordability, availability, and aperture were less represented. Although access to healthcare after paediatric surgery is generally appropriate and approachable, parents may experience insecurity in performing the self-management needed. Complementary forms of information provision, e.g., telemedicine, can be valuable in this regard.
Children with cancer experience recurring hospitalizations and isolation during treatment, which affect their school attendance. This study explores experiences of children with cancer, their classmates, and teachers with using the telepresence robot as a learning mediator in the hybrid classroom during treatment periods. 31 children with cancer (aged 7–17 years), 30 teachers, and 118 classmates participated in interviews and 19 h of participant observations were undertaken in nine classrooms. The Agential Realism Theory and Situational Analysis framed the data analysis. There was a single overarching theme, “Telepresence robot didactic,“ and five sub-themes (Telepresence mediated learning, school-home collaboration, hybrid robot teaching, intra-actions in class, and inclusive spatiality). This study advocates the complexity of telepresence robot didactics, emphasizing that numerous human and other factors must intra-act and work simultaneously to achieve optimal learning conditions for children during cancer treatment. This includes considerations such as modality availability for the remote child; the teacher’s understanding of telepresence robot didactic and hybrid learning; the classmate’s ability to involve the remote child in groupwork; the child’s own treatment protocol, the robot’s functionalities, and spatiality in the class. Strategies for use and the systematic surveillance of telepresence robots are needed to ensure that children during cancer treatment do not lag in academic achievement. This study proposes that children with cancer can continue participating in class while hospitalized or isolated and consequently reduce social and academic setbacks.
While successes in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission program are believed to lead to substantial reductions in new perinatal infections, new sexually acquired infections among the older adolescent group seem to fuel the HIV epidemic. That is why adolescents are the only age group in which an increase in new HIV infections was reported in the latest global HIV progress update. Increase in the number of perinatally HIV infected children growing to adolescence adds to this pool. However, there is limited evidence on the specific needs of adolescents in resource-limited settings. The objective of this study was to assess the experiences and suggestions of health-care providers regarding clinical services for adolescents living with HIV in Ethiopia. The study was conducted in two regions of Ethiopia. An inductive qualitative approach, including focus group interviews among health-care professionals working with adolescents living with HIV was conducted between November 2015 and March 2016. Fifteen health-care professionals participated in three focus group discussions. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analyses. The health-care professionals' experiences are described in three categories: Youth specific support needed; Manifold support from and within society; and Adults' fear of stigma. This led to the main theme: To see what is needed but not always being able to give. The main theme described that the health-care professionals were aware that the adolescents had specific health-care needs which they were not able to fulfill. They were also aware of the adolescents' need and support from the society and from their family, but they were not in control of it. Adolescents living with HIV have unique care needs which need to be met through evidence-guided introduction of adolescent-friendly services. This study further substantiates earlier findings that poor adherence to treatment and appointment schedules remains a critical challenge that needs interventions.
INTRODUCTION:Children affected by Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) cannot consume enough nourishment by mouth. PFD is highly prevalent and can affect the child's growth and development as well as family life.AIM:To illuminate Swedish parents' experiences of living with a child with PFD.METHOD:Semi-structured interviews via telephone or video calls were conducted with 14 purposefully recruited mothers and six fathers. The interviews were analysed using content analysis. Ethics approval was obtained, and the parents all gave informed consent.RESULTS:Four overarching themes emerged: Living with stress; Advocating for the child; Adapting family life; and Gaining hope. Parents described fearing for their child's life and health, feeling pressure over meals and being emotionally affected. They told of experiencing a lack of understanding from healthcare professionals, friends and family. Parents expressed a struggle for help, the need for early interventions and more effective treatment, and developed strategies for coping with the demands of feeding and caring for their child, accepting their living reality. Finding support from a network helped, but the adaptation of daily life affected their family relations. They felt gratitude towards helpful professionals and relief and joy when their child was doing better.CONCLUSIONS:A more cohesive chain of care is important for children with PFD, and guidelines and educational support for healthcare providers are needed. Parental experiences provide a base for knowledge for further development of early detection and intervention for children with PFD.
INTRODUCTION:Postpartum depression is considered a major public health problem, which immigrant mothers are at particular risk of being affected by, but it can also have long-lasting traumatic effects on the child's health and development. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is the world's most commonly employed screening instrument for postpartum depression, used in connection with a clinical interview to screen for symptoms of postpartum depression. The aim of this study was to synthesize health care professionals (HCPs) experiences of identifying signs of postpartum depression and performing screening on immigrant mothers, since previous research suggested that this task might be challenging. METHODS:The databases CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Embase and Cochrane were searched for papers published January 2000-December 2020, reporting qualitative data on immigrants, postpartum depression and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Eight papers representing eight studies from four countries were included and the Critical Appraisal Skills Program was used to assess their quality. The synthesis of studies was guided by Noblit & Hare's seven-step method based on meta-ethnography. FINDINGS:The synthesis resulted in two final themes: "I do my best, but I doubt that it's enough" and "I can find no way forward". The themes convey the fear and frustration that health care professionals experienced; fear of missing mothers with signs of postpartum depression, related to feeling uncomfortable in the cross-cultural setting and frustration in handling difficulties associated with communication, translated versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and cultural implications of postpartum depression. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATION:By supporting HCPs' self-efficacy in handling cultural implications of postpartum depression and by developing evidence-based clinical guidelines for the use of interpreters and translated versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale the screening of immigrant mothers may be facilitated.
BACKGROUND:Screening immigrant mothers for postpartum depression has been shown to be challenging for health care professionals in handling cultural implications of postpartum depression, communicating through interpreter and applying translated versions of the screening scale.AIM:The aim of the study was to test the feasibility of an evidence-based educational intervention for Child Health Services nurses in screening non-native-speaking immigrant mothers for postpartum depression.ETHICS:The approval was obtained from Swedish Ethical Review Authority, 2018/1063.METHOD:Thirty Child Health Services nurses who conducted screening with assistance of interpreter at least three times per year participated. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04167709) and a one-group pretest-posttest experimental design was applied. Data on the participants' acceptability and response to outcomes of the intervention were collected by an evaluation questionnaire, the Clinical Cultural Competency Training Questionnaire, the General Self-efficacy Scale and by self-reported data on general performance of the task. Descriptive statistics were used to present the results of the evaluation questionnaire and general performance of the task. Paired t-test were used to compare the scores on the General Self-efficacy scale, while Wilcoxon signed-ranked test was used to compare the scores on the Clinical Cultural Competency Training Questionnaire. Qualitative data were analysed by content analysis.RESULTS:All 30 participants stated that they found the content of the intervention satisfying. The intervention was shown to provide new knowledge and improved their ability to meet the requirements linked to the screening procedure. The intervention affected their self-estimated cultural competence in some aspects but not their self-efficacy or general performance of the task.CONCLUSIONS:The intervention was found feasible but require adjustment in the design of the practical training sessions. The use of the provided material, a comic strip on parental support and interpreter information needs further evaluation.
Purpose: To explore school-aged children's experiences about their best interests and participation in care during a hospital admission. Design and methods: A descriptive qualitative design involving in-depth, iterative inductive review of child responses to generate key words that led to identification of categories and themes. The study was guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child's definition of the best interests of the child, Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model and a child centred care approach. Results: Nine school-aged children (5-15 years old) from one children's ward in Australia participated. Analysis yielded thirteen categories, six sub-themes, and three themes: 1) Relationships with parents were positive when they met their children's physical and emotional needs and advocated for them: 2) Relationships with staff were positive when staff created opportunities for children to have a say in their healthcare, and checked in on the children and 3) Seeking familiarity away from home was facilitated when the environment children found themselves in provided them their own space and various forms of entertainment. Conclusion: School-aged children were able to verbalize what their best interests were and how participation in care could be facilitated in the hospital setting. The inter-relationships of the children with their parents, healthcare professionals, and the immediate environment reflected interactions both within, and between systems. Research and practice implications: Children in hospital need to be provided with age-appropriate opportunities to participate in shared decision making to support their best interests. Studies that model and evaluate such opportunities are needed. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.