Parents and families have long recognized and valued the expertise of the healthcare providers who give them care. Parents and families, however, have their own expertise: they know their children and families best. Members of the Partnerships Empowering Parents and Professionals (PEPP) project believe that families and professionals can have a true partnership, where the expertise and opinions of each are important when making decisions about the healthcare of children. The aspects of family-centered care which are most valued by parents are:
In addition, the project is researching the effectiveness of the family-centered care efforts and components. Families whose children are waiting for liver transplant can participate in the study. These families receive training and support from the PEPP team before, during, and after hospitalization of their child. Family Intervention Families attend training and discussion sessions on the following topics:
Hospital Staff Staff attend PEPP training and discussion sessions, incorporating what they learn into their own family-centered care practices. These sessions are followed by opportunities (embedded in existing rounds and meetings) to present case studies and resolve issues that arise in the process of implementing this project. Staff will also receive input regarding current practices from the Parent Mentors and the Family-Centered Care Resource Specialists. Parent Mentor Program The Parent Mentor Program is one of the key elements of this project. The goal of this program is to provide support, information and resources not available from the professional staff because it comes from the experiences of the parent mentors. There will be two levels of parent mentors. The first Senior Parent Mentors have been involved in the development of this project through a long-term Family Focus Group. The second level of Parent Mentors are new recruits to the program who will be receiving Parent Mentor Training. Parent Mentors will provide ongoing peer support to study families. The research component will answer these questions:
For More Information Partnerships Empowering Parents and Professionals A Family-Centered Care Project at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital 750 Welch Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 (650) 498-6410 Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is located in Palo Alto, adjacent to Stanford University Hospital, approximately 20 miles north of San Jose, CA and 40 miles south of San Francisco.
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