title: Children's participation in decision-making: balancing protection with shared decision-making using a situational perspective.
abstract: Children's participation in decision-making in the health care setting is complex because parents and health professionals tend to take a protective stance towards children to act in their best interest. Children prefer to be protected in some situations and to share decision-making in others. Adults in the health care setting need to consider children as individuals, rather than as a homogenous group, and take into account that a child's competence and preferences will depend on the circumstances in every situation. This article argues for a situational perspective of children's participation to act in the child's best interest and to balance protection with shared decision-making, according to children's rights and desires.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. coynei@tcd.ie
authors.forename: Imelda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Coyne
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation; D028701:Patient Rights