Context
Inge Schalkers addressess in her thesis Quality of Paediatric Hospital Care. Understanding the Perspectives of Children and Families (2016) the complex challenge of closing the considerable gap between the national legal framework relating to children’s rights to paticpate in healthcare and its implementation in practice.
Children and adolescents are significant users of healthcare services. In the context of the patient participation movement, it is increasingly accepted that children need to be actively involved in their hospital care so that it can best meet their unique physical, mental and developmental needs. Although the Netherlands is one of the pioneering countries in the recognition of the rights of minors in treatment decision-making, there is still an implementation gap in the Netherlands.
This thesis contributes to a comprehensive understanding of what children and families regard as good quality hospital care, and considers how to align this with policy frameworks and daily care practice. Furthermore, concrete opportunities for facilitating the participation of children in hospital care are identified, together with suggestions for improving current practice. These proposals aim to improve the quality of child and family-centred hospital care and, ultimately, children’s and young people’s health outcomes.
Inge Schalkers
Quality of Paediatric Hospital Care. Understanding the Perspectives of Children and Families, Ipskamp Printing, Enschede.
ISBN: 978-94-028-0336-5