Interventions to improve child-parent-medical provider communication: A systematic review

Research related to effective communication between children/parents and medical providers is limited.

To review interventions seeking to improve communication between children/parents and medical providers.

The inclusion criteria were interventions in peer-reviewed articles and dissertations in English. Because of the limited availability of pediatric communication research, no restrictions were placed on the year, design, and length of follow-up of the interventions. Out of 4163 articles in the CINAHL, Cochrane, EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases, 34 met the inclusion criteria. The design, strategies, measurement tools, results, and conflicts of interest of the interventions were reviewed.

Most interventions were conducted in the United States, had a small sample size, and used a pre-posttest design. Fifteen were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The most frequent intervention strategies were role-playing sessions and seminars for medical providers. Standardized children (i.e., fictitious child patients) were frequently used to help train physicians. Most interventions improved providers' interpersonal, patient-centered interviewing skills. Interventions that targeted parents involved booklets and role-playing to encourage questions. They improved parents' satisfaction and communication. An intervention that targeted youth used a video portraying how children can communicate better with physicians. Once the children aged 5-15 years watched the video, they wrote questions for their physicians prior to the medical visit. The experimental group of children had better rapport with physicians and could recall recommendations about medications more often than the control group.

More RCTs involving children as active participants are needed.