title: Valid informed consent and participative decision-making in children with cancer and their parents: a report of the SIOP Working Committee on psychosocial issues in pediatric oncology.
abstract: This is the tenth official document of the SIOP Working Committee on psychosocial issues in pediatric oncology, instituted in 1991. It is addressed to the pediatric oncology community. Children clearly have a right to participate in medical decisions regarding their own treatment, based on the developmental level of the child. The objective of these guidelines is to encourage physicians to share with the child developmentally relevant medical information specific to that particular child's health status, in the context of the child's own culture, so that he or she can actively participate in the decision-making process regarding his or her own health. These guidelines, geared toward this objective, discuss the child's right to medical information, the parents' legal responsibility for but not exclusive right over the child's health, and ways of encouraging the younger child's active participation in his or her own health care at an age-appropriate level of understanding. For adolescents, there should be a full and legally mandated power to make their own decisions regarding medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Spinetta
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masera
authors.forename: Momcilo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jankovic
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oppenheim
authors.forename: Antonio Gentil
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Myriam Weyl
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ben Arush
authors.forename: Jeanette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Dongen-Melman
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Epelman
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Medin
authors.forename: Kirsti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pekkanen
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eden
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000941:ethics*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010358:Patient Participation; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000941:ethics*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic