Family-centred and child-rights-based care — viva

Stem

Examiner-led viva on a family-centred, rights-based encounter in a complex child. ^[1]

Examiner: The parents ask you not to tell the child what is happening. How do you respond? ^[5]

Strong answer: I explore why — usually fear — while holding the child's right to accessible information and to be heard. Withholding information "to protect" breaches the information-sharing core concept and the child's rights. I offer to share age-appropriate honest information with the child together with the parents, so the child is not left frightened and alone. ^{[1] [5]}

Examiner: Name the four PFCC core concepts and the four UNCRC guiding principles. ^[1]

Strong answer: The four core concepts are dignity and respect, information sharing, participation, and collaboration. 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. The first set tells me how to partner; the second tells me why the child is owed it. ^{[1] [5]}

Examiner: The parents speak limited English. How do you handle communication? ^[9]

Strong answer: I book a professional interpreter for every substantive conversation, and I never use the child or a sibling as interpreter for high-stakes information. I share information in plain language and check understanding with teach-back rather than trusting a nod. ^[9]

Examiner: How would you grade the child's participation here? ^[12]

Strong answer: Using Hart's ladder, manipulation, decoration and tokenism are not participation. For a nine-year-old, genuine participation means assigned-but-informed at minimum — I tell her in concrete terms what will happen and ask her view, weighted to her developmental stage, and I record her own views in the notes. ^{[12] [6]}