Humanization of care in pediatric wards: differences between perceptions of users and staff according to department type

Abstract

Background: As the quality and quantity of patient-centered care may be perceived differently by recipients and independent observers, assessment of humanization of pediatric care remains an elusive issue. Herein we aim to analyze differences between the degrees of verified existing vs. perceived humanization issues of a pediatric ward. Furthermore, we examine whether there is concurrence between the degrees of humanization perceived by users (parents/visitors) vs. staff members. Methods: The study was conducted in the pediatric wards of seven medical centers of the Campania region (Italy) categorized as general (n = 4), children's (n = 1), and university (n = 2) hospitals. The degree of existing humanization was assessed by a multidisciplinary focus group for each hospital through a pediatric care-oriented checklist specifically developed to individuate the most critical areas (i.e., those with scores < 2.5). The degree of perceived humanization was assessed through four indicators: well-being, social aspects, safety and security, and health promotion. Results: The focus groups showed that critical areas common to all centers were mainly concerned with welfare, mediation, translation, and interpretation services. Specific critical issues were care and organizational processes oriented to the respect and specificity of the person and care of the relationship with the patient. Perceived humanization questionnaires revealed a lack of recreational facilities and mediation and translation services. As for specific features investigated by both tools, it was found that mediation and interpretation services were lacking in all facilities while patient perceptions and observer ratings for space, comfort, and orientation concurred only in the general hospital evaluations. Conclusions: Future humanization interventions to ensure child-and family-friendly hospital care call for careful preliminary assessments, tailored to each pediatric ward category, which should consider possible differences between perceived and verified characteristics.

Perceptions and Expectations of Youth Regarding the Respect for Their Rights in the Hospital

“…Notably, existing information obtained by adults (parents/visitors or staff members) as proxies for children [14,15] needs to be viewed with caution as children's and parents' experience of hospital stays do not always match [16]. In an Italian project in which various humanization interventions were implemented in the pediatric wards of the seven regional hospitals located in the Campania region, we showed that the level of existing humanization issues perceived by users (parents/visitors) was frequently different also from that perceived by staff members [17]. However, in our previous study, we did not explore the point of view of young hospitalized patients and/or directly listen to their opinions.…”

Espaços criativos para a humanização da internação pediátrica

“…A diretriz 1 indica que o espaço deve explorar amplamente a ambiência lúdica por meio de luz, cores, mobiliário, som e aromas, estabelecendo ambientes amplos e luminosos em conexão com a natureza (RIBEIRO; GOMES; THOFEHRN, 2014; MOREIRA; MACEDO, 2009;MANDATO et al, 2020). Ao discuti-la, os profissionais enfatizaram que o espaço é utilizado não somente por crianças, mas por adolescentes, o que indica a necessidade de que o ambiente satisfaça ambos os públicos.…”

Exploring the Role of Birth Environment on Italian Mothers’ Emotional Experience during Childbirth

“…Humanization represents a cultural transformation of the care to the users and of the management of work processes, which should pervade all actions and health services. The importance of humanization in healthcare settings has been studied in various contexts, such as pediatric wards and psychiatric emergency units [8,9], underlining the importance of welcoming and humanized care [10]. However, few studies explored the impact of spatial-physical 2 of 16 humanization on patients' perception [11].…”