The Attitudes of Health Professionals to the Psychological Preparation of Children for Hospitalisation

Abstract

Research into the perceptions of health care staff about the psychological impact of medical procedures on children and their parents has been sparse. Those findings that have been published suggest that there are discrepancies between parent and health care provider perceptions of the hospital experience. It appears that health care staff, in particular medical practitioners, are inclined to overestimate satisfaction with the information they provide and underestimate the extent of emotional problems experienced by children and their parents. In addition, research has indicated that children report dissatisfaction with the information that they are given by either medical staff or their parents. Given the therapeutic and economic benefits of psychological preparation procedures, it seems surprising that research into the views of health staff about the importance of preparation programs has been ignored by investigators.