Questioning family-centre care

Abstract

This article poses topics for discussion around family-centred care as a model of care delivery to children and families in health services. Family-centred care developed over three decades the following awakening awareness that excluding parents during a child's hopsital admission was detrimental to the child's mental health. Using resources from both past and current literature and existing research, I argue that it is time for a revision of practices and policies that espouse family-centred care as the optimum model of care in paediatrics. Once the historial development of family-centred care is discussed, current research shows a dearth of evidence about family-centred care, its use, implementation and applicability across cultures and nations. Five questions are discussed: is family-centred care relevant now? is it relevant only in Western countries? what does it mean to implement family-centred care?, is family-centred care implemented effectively? does it make a difference? Exemplars of good family-centred care practice are provided. Ats this stage, it is difficult to know whether using family-centred care makes a different to a child's and family's health outcomes, as there is no rigorous evidence to answer the question 'does it work'? Nurses must undertake studies so we can either support the successful implementation of family-centred care, or abandon it to the best interests of children, families and health services. Practitioners must be aware that family-centred care is a wonderful ideal that is almost impossible to implement and so new ways of delivering care to children may be needed