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Psychosocial policies in hospitals serving children: comparative characteristics
1University of Alabama.
Insights
Pediatric hospitals offer more psychosocial services for children and families than general hospitals. Implementation of these vital services increased between 1981 and 1988.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Child and family psychosocial support
Background:
- Assessing psychosocial services in pediatric care is crucial for holistic child health.
- Previous data from 1981 highlighted the need for expanded psychosocial support in hospitals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the current implementation of psychosocial services in pediatric and general hospitals.
- To compare service provision between pediatric and general facilities, and across different hospital types and patient stay durations.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive questionnaire was distributed to nursing directors in U.S. and Canadian pediatric and general hospitals.
- Data were analyzed to identify trends and relationships between hospital characteristics and service provision.
- Comparison of 1988 data with a similar 1981 survey.
Main Results:
- Pediatric hospitals demonstrated higher rates of psychosocial service implementation compared to general hospitals.
- There was an overall increase in the provision of these services from 1981 to 1988.
- No significant trends were observed based on country (U.S. vs. Canada) or length of patient stay.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric hospitals are leaders in providing psychosocial services for children and families.
- The observed increase in service implementation indicates positive progress in addressing psychosocial needs.
- Further research may be needed to understand variations in service provision across different healthcare settings.
Abstract:
This investigation identified and assessed the extent to which hospitals are implementing psychosocial services to meet the needs of children and their families. Following up a similar survey in 1981, a comprehensive questionnaire was sent to the directors of pediatric nursing at pediatric hospitals and general hospitals with pediatric residency programs in the U.S. and Canada. Data were analyzed in a variety of ways to determine the relation between characteristics of pediatric hospitals and general hospitals; Canadian and U.S. hospitals; and hospitals with short, medium, and long lengths of pediatric patient stay. Overall, pediatric hospitals provided more psychosocial services than did general hospitals, and more of these services were implemented in 1988 as compared to 1981. No consistent trends were evident among hospitals when countries or lengths of pediatric patient stay were compared.