Including Parents in Clinical Ethics Case Consultation

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Paediatric Healthcare
• Clinical Decision Making

Background:

• Parents possess legal and moral authority in pediatric healthcare decisions.
• Parental engagement in ethics case consultations within Australian pediatric settings is not routine.
• The moral and practical aspects of parental involvement in ethics consultations require debate.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an Australian paediatric Clinical Ethics Response Group (CERG) through a quality assurance project.
• To explore parental involvement in CERG ethics case consultations.
• To identify potential improvements for clinical ethics support services.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semi-structured interviews (n=12) with CERG members and referring clinicians.
• Explored views on parental involvement in ethics case consultations via virtual platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
• Utilized inductive content analysis on manually coded interview transcripts.

Main Results:

• A consensus emerged from a small group that parents should have the opportunity to provide input in ethics case deliberations.
• Input can be offered through written submissions or meeting attendance.
• The optimal process for parental involvement remains undetermined.

Conclusions:

• Initiating debate on the rationale and processes for parental involvement is crucial.
• Developing best practices for Australian paediatric ethics case consultations requires careful consideration of parental engagement.
• Further research is needed to establish optimal methods for integrating parental perspectives.