title: Enhancing working relationships between parents and surgeons.
abstract: The working relationship between parents and surgeons is fundamental in providing excellent health care to children and adolescents. The breakdown of this working relationship has a significant potential for detrimental effects on individual well-being and adverse systemic outcomes. Collaborative, deferential, and problematic partnership types of family participation in medical decision-making are important models to understand in enhancing and maintaining successful working relationships. A pragmatic approach involving prevention, recognition, and resolution steps is outlined that can help surgeons to avoid as well as to respond effectively to difficult and stressful interactions with parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. david.demaso@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: DeMaso
authors.forename: Ioana Simona
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Bujoreanu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000592:standards; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000592:standards; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Family; Parents; Physicians; Surgeons; Treatment alliance; Working relationship