Increasing person-centred care in paediatrics

Abstract

Background: Paediatric patients (PPs) often feel that they are not involved in care and treatment decisions. Although training clinicians may help, there is a lack of evaluated training programmes specifically for work with PPs. The aim of this article is to evaluate ‘Me first’, a training programme aimed at improving clinicians’ attitudes and communication skills when working with PPs. Methods: A total of 69 clinicians attended ‘Me first’ training and completed questionnaires across three time points: (1) prior to attending the training; (2) at the end of the training; and (3) 4–6 weeks later. This included 14 medical staff, 29 nursing staff and 26 allied health staff. Attitude was measured using the Leeds Attitudes to Concordance II (LATCon II) scale, and communication skills were measured using the Effective Listening and Interactive Communication Scale (ELICS). Results: Overall, clinicians reported that their attitude and communication skills improved after attending ‘Me first’. This was maintained 4–6 weeks later. Subgroup analysis showed that allied health staff did not maintain the improved attitude at the follow-up conducted 4–6 weeks later. Subgroup analysis showed that allied health staff did not maintain the improved attitude at the follow-up conducted 4–6 weeks later. Conclusions: Findings suggest that ‘Me first’ may be helpful in improving clinician attitudes and communication skills with PPs. Further research should examine whether PPs report higher levels of communication and decision making with clinicians who have attended training.