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Questions directed to children with diverse communicative competencies in paediatric healthcare consultations

Watts, Janet; Ekberg, Stuart; Bluebond-Langner, Myra; Langner, Richard; Fleming, Sara; Danby, Susan; Ekberg, Katie; ... Herbert, Anthony; + view all (2023) Questions directed to children with diverse communicative competencies in paediatric healthcare consultations. Patient Education and Counseling , Article 108103. 10.1016/j.pec.2023.108103. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This paper examines question-response sequences, in which clinicians asked questions to child patients who appear to interact using means other than the verbal mode of communication. METHODS: Conversation Analysis methods were used to study questions in 46 paediatric palliative care consultations. These questions were directed towards children who observably used vocalisations and embodied modes of communication (e.g., gaze, gesture and facial expressions) but did not appear to use the verbal mode. RESULTS: Most questions asked children either about their willingness and preferences for a proposed next activity, or their current feelings, experiences or intentions. Questions involved children by foregrounding their preferences and feelings. These questions occasioned contexts where the child’s vocal or embodied conduct could be treated as a relevant response. CONCLUSION: This paper demonstrates how questions are used to involve children in consultations about their own healthcare, and how their views come to be understood by clinicians and family members, even when children interact using means other than the verbal mode of communication. PRACTISE IMPLICATIONS: Questions can be asked of both children who do and do not verbally communicate. When asking questions, clinicians should be mindful of the modes of communication an individual child uses to consider how the child might meaningfully respond.

Type: Article
Title: Questions directed to children with diverse communicative competencies in paediatric healthcare consultations
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2023.108103
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.108103
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. under a Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Conversation analysis, Paediatric palliative care, Communication, Questions
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10185183
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