The importance of including both a child perspective and the child’s perspective within health care settings to provide truly child-centred care

Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) asserts the right of every child to self-determination, dignity, respect, non-interference, and the right to make informed decisions. The provision of quality care in health services tailored to children’s preferences means that health professionals have a responsibility to ensure children’s rights, and that the child is encouraged and enabled to make his or her view known on issues that affect them. This paper will help illuminate and differentiate between a child perspective and the child’s perspective in health care settings. The issues are supported with research which illustrates the different perspectives. Both perspectives are required to perceive and encounter children as equal human beings in child-centred health care settings.