Brief Abstract:

“You are the expert when it comes to your child,” is a common refrain heard in paediatric hospital rooms across the country. This statement is encouraging for families who want to be involved in care decisions and share with doctors the insights they have gained caring for their child on a daily basis. This statement also shows the prominence in paediatric hospitals of Family Centred Care practices, which value parents’ input. However, little research has been conducted to examine how a parents’ expertise is engaged with and utilized by health care providers. This study will attempt to examine this phenomenon of physicians’ utilization of information provided by parents of children with medical complexity (CMC), as to further explain family centered care philosophies in actual practice. This study will conceptualize and develop a model of physician’s utilization of the information parents of Children with Medical Complexity (CMC) share with them, by using qualitative research methods. This research study will explore the question; how do physicians utilize information provided by parents of children with medial complexity? The first study focused on interviews with physicians to understand utilization from their perspective and the second study will focus on interviewing family members, to understand utilization from their perspective. The findings from both studies will be summarized, contrasted and compared.

Research in the News

Contact Information:

Francine Buchanan, PhD (candidate)
Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation
University of Toronto
Francine.buchanan@utoronto.ca

Affiliated Organizations: