International and national frameworks on children’s rights place children’s participation in decision-making at the top of the political agenda. The Netherlands is a country that consistently ranks particularly high on numerous international and European rankings, including rankings related to children’s rights, health, wellbeing, and happiness. In pediatric health care practice, however, children’s rights to participation in decision-making can be challenging to implement. This webinar will provide an overview of key literature currently informing children’s rights to participation in decision-making and share the findings from a focused ethnographic doctoral study exploring the perspectives of twelve child life specialists and five hospital directors on children’s participation in decision-making across two pediatric hospitals in the Netherlands in 2020-2021. Due to COVID-19, children were not interviewed. The findings provide insights into the role of power relations and paradoxical ideas related to children’s agency and rights, which can shape children’s participation in decision-making. In turn, the findings introduce children’s participation in decision-making as a complex, contextual, and relational concept. Based on the study findings, participants in this webinar will engage with more critical ways of incorporating children’s participation in decision-making in pediatric health care practice.

Suggested Domain: Ethics

1.0 PDU

Learning Objectives:

1. Review current key literature and frameworks for understanding children’s participation in decision-making.

2. Understand how children’s rights to participation in decision-making apply to child life practice.

3. Identify professional and structural facilitators and barriers that can influence children’s participation in decision-making in child life practice.

4. Identify how the experiences of child life specialists regarding children’s participation in the Netherlands can advance child life practice in a North American context.

Research demonstrates that individuals from marginalized groups experience greater disparities in health outcomes. This presentation will define health disparities and how they relate to child life services. A research study that was performed to compare characteristics associated with patients receiving or not receiving child life services will be discussed. Research finding can be applied to inform and drive child life services.

Objectives:

Define health disparity and identify one or more health outcomes that adversely affect disadvantaged populations.

List 3 steps in the study design and identify research finding in the utilization of child life services in the Emergency Department.

Explore in small group discussion specific to diversity, equity and inclusion.

1 PDU, Ethics Domain

In the literature, less is known about racial disparities that exist for pediatric services during end-of-life. To synthesize the literature and provide recommendations for child life specialists, a systematic review was conducted. Results of our review highlight a lack of research discussing psychosocial variables and provide insight into services that fall within the practice of child life including family education and support during decision making. Recommendations for child life practice and research initiatives that could fill significant gaps in the pediatric literature will be discussed.

Objectives:

Participants will be able to describe the rationale for studying racial disparities in psychosocial service provision.

Participants will be able to recite specific conclusions from studies found in the systematic review.

Participants will be able to apply practice recommendations informed by the systematic review.

1 PDU, Ethics Domain