The Perspective of the Hospitalized School-Aged Child on the Sharing of Information by Healthcare Professionals

Communication is a right of children, a pillar of the philosophy of Child-Centered Care and health advocacy, and a priority for research. Despite the widespread recognition that developmentally appropriate information has a positive effect on children’s healthcare experience, their information needs remain unmet. Giving voice to the child’s experience is vital for transforming this scenario. In our study, we aimed to understand the perspective of hospitalized children regarding the sharing of information by healthcare professionals. A descriptive, qualitative study was developed, grounded in the philosophy of Child-Centered Care. Thirty school-aged children, hospitalized in a pediatric inpatient unit at an university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, participated in the study. Data collection occurred between July 2023 and May 2024 through semi-structured individual interviews, analyzed using Inductive Thematic Analysis and Lexical Analysis. Four themes emerged: 1) Family members: source of information, support, and comfort; 2) Individual information needs; 3) Barriers to understanding information; and 4) Identifying encouraging information. In summary, for children, the sharing of information by healthcare professionals is permeated by barriers that hinder their understanding, requiring them to turn to family members to decode messages, as they often feel shy about directing questions to the healthcare professionals. During hospitalization, children identify information shared by the team, such as the possibility of attending the playroom and the pedagogy room, as powerful in alleviating boredom, promoting cheerfulness, and supporting learning.