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[Reducing fear in preschool children during clinical examinations]
1Sinlau Hospital, Madou Branch, Taiwan, ROC. slh18@sinlau.org.tw
Insights
Pediatric clinics reduced children's fear by 50% through child-friendly redesigns and staff training. These interventions improved the clinic environment and patient care quality.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Child psychology
- Medical environment design
Context:
- High prevalence of fear (73%) in preschool children visiting clinics.
- Fear negatively impacts other children, clinic environment, and patient-doctor relationships.
- Identified causes include non-child-friendly settings, staff attitudes, and intimidating tools.
Purpose:
- To implement interventions aimed at reducing fear in preschool children during clinic visits.
- To improve the overall healthcare experience for young patients and their families.
- To enhance the quality of medical treatment by mitigating patient anxiety.
Summary:
- An action team redesigned pediatric clinics, modified nurse uniforms, introduced child-engaging toys, altered examining tool appearance, and provided staff training.
- Interventions focused on creating a more welcoming and less intimidating environment for young patients.
- The study tracked the reduction in observable fear signs among preschool-aged children.
Impact:
- Significant reduction in preschool children's fear, from 73% to 37%.
- Positive effects on the clinic environment, patient-doctor relationships, and quality of care.
- Demonstrates the effectiveness of targeted environmental and procedural changes in pediatric settings.
Abstract:
In the author's hospital, pre-intervention observations showed that almost three-quarters (73%) of all pre-school aged children visiting a clinic showed signs of fear, which affected the attitudes of other children, disturbed the general environment, created tense relationships between doctors and patients, and affected the quality of medical treatment. Primary reasons for fear among these young patients include lack of child-friendly settings, the attitudes of nursing personnel, nurses' appearance, a lack of tools and techniques especially designed to attract children and hold their attention, and the frightening appearance of examining tools. An action team was formed to respond to the perceived needs identified during these observations. Changes that were recommended and accepted were redecorating all pediatric clinics, changing the uniforms of pediatric nurses, purchasing special toys for use during examinations, changing the external appearance of examining tools, and offering inservice classes on reducing fear among visiting children. As a result of these changes, the percentage of pre-school aged patients exhibiting signs of fear in the hospital's outpatient clinics fell to 37%.