Family-Centered Care and the Pediatrician’s Role

Abstract

Family-Centered Care and the Pediatrician's Role ABSTRACT. Drawing on several decades of work with families, pediatricians, other health care professionals, and policy makers, the American Academy of Pediatrics provides a definition of family-centered care. In pediatrics, family-centered care is based on the understanding that the family is the child's primary source of strength and support. Further, this approach to care recognizes that the perspectives and information provided by families, children, and young adults are important in clinical decision making. This policy statement outlines the core principles of family-centered care, summarizes the recent literature linking family-centered care to improved health outcomes, and lists various other benefits to be expected when engaging in family-centered pediatric practice. The statement concludes with specific recommendations for how pediatricians can integrate familycentered care in hospitals, clinics, and community settings as well as in more broad systems of care. ABBREVIATION. AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics.

Supporting parents in taking care of their infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a prospective cohort pilot study

“…The comparison between mothers in the FCC and NFCC groups revealed that there was not a statistically significant difference in the perception of the NICU environment in the NFCC group. These findings do not differ from those reported in recent literature strongly promoting FCC [1, 5, 9]. Moreover, our findings support the implementation of FCC in our department, showing that parents need to be involved in their infant’s care to reduce both the infant’s stress and their own.…”

“…Mothers and fathers in the FCC group perceived their NICU experience as satisfying and stressful in the same way with no statistically significant differences on any items. This finding could be related to the equal involvement of both parents in developmental care [8, 19], and it validates the hypothesis that FCC promotes both parental roles equally [2, 9–11, 19, 32]. Moreover, these data, according to Provenzi [26], reveal that the experience of becoming a parent of a preterm infant is very stressful because of the adjustment to the preterm birth and parental role adjustments.…”

“…FCC is focused on the family’s role as the centre of the healthcare delivery system and on respect, communication, participation, collaboration and inclusion of the family in all aspects of their baby’s care [8]. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recognized the FCC concept as an important component of all paediatric care, including neonatal care, and has recommended that “conducting attending physician rounds (i.e., presentations and rounds discussions) in the patients’ rooms with the family present should be standard practice” [9, 10]. Davidson et al indicated that when providing FCC, parents need to have the opportunity to participate in rounds so that they can ask questions and clarify information [11].…”

Family participation in childhood cancer care

“…Family-centred care is based on the assertion that the family is the child's best adviser and source of support. Even if the situation and context change, the family remains unchangeable [5,7] . It has been proven that when the parents' needs are fulfilled, they are better equipped to cope with their child's illness [5] .…”

Patient- and family-centred care practices of emergency nurses in emergency departments in the Durban area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…[1] An integral part of this approach is being responsive to the needs, values and cultural needs of the patient and family members (FMs). [2] Further to this, a PFCC approach in critical care in the emergency department (ED) recognises the needs of both the patient and FMs. This approach is central to delivering effective care, including prompt assessment of FMs' needs, that not only reduces FMs' stress and anxiety but also enhances the patient's satisfaction with care.…”