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Communicating health information to children: is a child-rights-based approach being adopted by nurses? An
Victoria Egli1, Emma McIntyre2, Nina Duggan2
1Te Huataki Waiora, The School of Health, The University of Waikato, Hillcrest Road, Hillcrest, Kirikiriora, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
Insights
Nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand use various strategies to communicate health messages to children, with some aligning with children's rights. However, opportunities exist to enhance communication through play and continuity of care.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Child Health
- Health Communication
Background:
- Childhood is a critical period for establishing health behaviors and health literacy.
- Nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand play a key role in delivering health messages to children at important life stages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how nurses communicate health messages to children and adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand.
- To evaluate if current health communication practices align with a child's rights-based approach.
Main Methods:
- An integrative review was conducted using a systematic literature search across 9 databases in July 2022.
- Content analysis with a deductive coding framework, informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, was used for analysis of 20 high-quality articles.
Main Results:
- Nurses employ diverse strategies for health communication, with some methods supporting children's rights.
- No evidence was found for nurses using play or creative activities in health communication.
- Continuity of care principles, including communication beyond the pediatric context, were not evident in the reviewed literature.
Conclusions:
- There are opportunities to improve nursing practices regarding children's and adolescents' rights in health communication.
- Further research is needed to identify barriers and propose interventions for upholding children's rights in healthcare services.
Background:
Childhood is a time when health behaviours are established and the foundations for health literacy are cemented. In Aotearoa New Zealand nurses are responsible for communicating health messages to children at key stages in children's lives.
Objectives/Aims:
This review explores the ways in which nurses communicate health messages to children and adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand. It evaluates whether current approaches to health communication are in-line with a child's rights-based approach.
Design:
An integrative review using a systematic literature search strategy.
Data Sources:
In July 2022, 9 databases were searched including: Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Scopus (Elsevier), Cochrane Library, EBSCO (host), Web of Science Core Collection, CINHIAL plus, psychINFO and PsychEXTRA.
Methods:
Following title and abstract screening 41 articles went through to full-text screening. These were uploaded into NVivo v.12 for analysis. Results were analysed using content analysis with a deductive coding framework informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A total of 20 articles met all inclusion criteria and were assessed of high quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
Results:
Nurses communicate health messages using a variety of strategies, some of which align with the rights of the child. No evidence was found of nurses communicating health messages through play or creative activities or by adopting principles and practice of continuity of care, including health communication beyond the paediatric context.
Conclusion:
Opportunities exist for improvements to the rights of children and adolescents within nursing practice. Further research about the rights of children in healthcare services including not only identifying the barriers but research that includes interventions and proposes solutions is necessary .
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