ABSTRACT
Parents play a crucial part in the success or failure of child involvement in decisionmaking about their healthcare. This is as true for an acutely ill child as for children with chronic conditions. This chapter is set within an emergency care context, as an emergency department (ED) must accommodate the needs of children and accompanying families as far as reasonably possible. 1 Although the evidence relating to emergency care consultations and child participation in decision-making is sparse, it is a crucial setting because of the often serious nature of the illnesses or injuries experienced by children. The evidence relating to parents within emergency care and from the wider literature pertaining to parental perspectives and roles as both passive recipients and active role models within child consultations is presented in this chapter. Two methods of preparation of children by parents and parental modelling are discussed. Parents may use such methods to facilitate and support their children to take part in decision-making at a high level of participation and to encourage child and parental communication within consultations with health professionals. The chapter ends with a guide for parents’ incorporating 12 questions that a parent may wish to consider prior to attending a consultation with a child, to maximise the level of child participation.
