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Priority #5:

What are effective support strategies for parents, families and children and youth hospitalized on the general paediatric inpatient unit (GPIU)?

The hospitalization process can be a physically and mentally strenuous experience for paediatric patients and their families. As children and youth are expected to leave their homes and undergo major interruptions to their daily activities and routines, hospitalizations may serve as anxiety-provoking experiences which can affect children’s physical growth, personality, and emotional development. In efforts to mediate the negative impacts of treatment and hospitalization, supportive care for paediatric patients and their families is essential. 

Gaps in Evidence

The hospitalization process can be a physically and mentally strenuous experience for paediatric patients and their families. As children and youth are expected to leave their homes and undergo major interruptions to their daily activities and routines, hospitalizations may serve as anxiety-provoking experiences which can affect children’s physical growth, personality, and emotional development. In efforts to mediate the negative impacts of treatment and hospitalization, supportive care for paediatric patients and their families is essential. 

Directions for Future Research

Caring for Subpopulations of Paediatric Patients

  1. How can hospitals become more adolescent-friendly spaces?  

  2. What mental health supports should be made available for hospitalized teens?

  3. What supports are available for teens and how is supportive care individualized for them?

  4. What support strategies are available for parents of a child with a recently acquired disability?

  5. What support strategies are available for new mothers of admitted babies (e.g. Personal Support Workers, lactation consultants)

Current Best Practices

  1. What best practices exist across Canada and can their effectiveness be compared across sites?  

  2. What are the unintended consequences of current best practices (e.g. private rooms, family-centered care)?

  3. What models of nursing care are in place to support hospitalized children and youth?

  4. How does the time of day and day of week of an admission affect the extent and quality of a patient’s orientation?

Parental Support

  1. What educational supports are available to parents in caring for hospitalized children and youth (e.g. allowing parents to help prepare their children for tests)?  

  2. What is the impact of parent-partner relationships with paediatric clinicians?

  3. How can educational and supportive care for parents be supported digitally?

  4. What are the positive health benefits of providing psychosocial interventions to parents/caregivers during their child’s hospitalization?

Accommodations

  1. What methods are available to prioritize sleep for inpatients?

  2. What current day/night cycles are in place and what is the impact of disturbing these cycles in inpatient settings?

  3. What guidelines, advice and recommendations are in place for safe sleeping by hospitalized infants, children and youth?

Physical and Mental Health

  1. What outlets are available to children to ensure they are leading productive and healthy lives inside hospital wards (e.g. access to outdoor spaces, contact with social network, exercise programs)?  

  2. What psychosocial resources are available for hospitalized children and youth (e.g. mental health services for patients and families)?

The Top 10 Priorities

Read more about other priorities:

#1

What best practices and/or care models exist for inpatient care for children and youth with medical complexity on the GPIU?

#2

What methods of communication are most effective between patients, caregivers and health care providers on a GPIU?

#3

What are the best practices and support strategies for Indigenous parents, families and children and youth on the GPIU?

#4

How can we ensure that healthcare delivery in hospital meets the needs of children and youth with developmental disabilities on the GPIU?

#5

What are effective support strategies for parents, families, and children and youth hospitalized on the GPIU?

#6

What mental health supports can be provided to parents, families and children and youth while hospitalized on the GPIU?

#7

What are effective ways to incorporate shared decision-making with parents and children and youth hospitalized on the GPIU?

#8

What are effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of prolonged inpatient hospitalizations on the GPIU?

#9

What are effective alternatives to shorten length of stay for hospitalized children and youth on the GPIU?

#10

What are the most effective communication methods between healthcare providers on a GPIU?

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PIRN est un nouveau réseau canadien développé pour pour générer des données probantes qui amélioreront les soins et les résultats des enfants hospitalisés en milieu pédiatrique général.

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contact.pirncanada@sickkids.ca

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to acknowledge the land on which SickKids operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, Toronto is home to Indigenous Peoples from across Turtle Island. SickKids is committed to working toward new relationships that include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and is grateful for the opportunity to share this land in caring for children and their families.

Dernière mise à jour:août 2020 par l'équipe PIRN. Créé avec Wix.com

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