Family-centred and child-rights-based care — formative SAQs

SAQ 1 — Core concepts, rights principles and participation (10 marks)

A 7-year-old with a complex chronic illness is admitted to the ward for a planned procedure. Her care spans four specialists and a school nurse. Her parents speak a language other than English and arrive with her older sibling. [9] [10]

Questions

1. Name the four IPFCC core concepts and the four UNCRC guiding principles, and state how each set shapes this encounter. (5 marks) [1] [5]
2. Grade the child's possible participation using Hart's ladder, distinguishing genuine participation from tokenism. (3 marks) [12]
3. State two concrete bedside actions that would uphold the child's right to be heard here, and one error to avoid. (2 marks) [6]

Model answer

Core concepts and principles (5). The four IPFCC core concepts are dignity and respect, information sharing, participation, and collaboration; they tell you how to partner — in this encounter, by booking a professional interpreter, sharing honest information in plain language, involving the family in the plan, and treating the parents as equal partners. [1] The four UNCRC guiding principles are non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development, and the right of the child to be heard; they tell you why the child is owed it — here, the child's own views must be sought and given weight regardless of her family's language or background. [5]

Grading participation (3). Hart's ladder places manipulation, decoration and tokenism outside participation — a child asked to hold a prop during a consent conversation she cannot influence is decoration. Genuine participation runs from assigned-but-informed through consultation to child-initiated, shared decisions with adults. For this 7-year-old, genuine participation means telling her in age-appropriate terms what will happen and asking her view, weighted to her developmental stage. [12]

Bedside actions (2). Two concrete actions: greet the child by name first and ask her, in age-appropriate language, what she understands and what matters to her; record her own views in the notes rather than only the parents'. One error to avoid: using the older sibling as interpreter for high-stakes information — a professional interpreter is required. [6] [9]