Supporting children’s decision-making in healthcare: Understanding essential entities and processes

Abstract

Several factors likely drive the recent emphasis on supporting decision-making in medicine, including the focus on self-determination in healthcare, rising complexity in societal demands on healthcare, and challenges healthcare professionals face. At this core, we cannot choose to be born, to avoid illness, or to escape death. Therefore, in healthcare, what is it we genuinely decide when we make a “decision”? Can medicine help individuals maintain dignity and shape their identity? What do we, as health professionals, commit to with terms such as patients’ dignity, best interests, respect for autonomy, and suffering? This study will explore the decision-making process for children in healthcare by examining discussions in adult medicine. Rather than accepting ambiguous concepts at face value, we will focus on the actual lives of children, recognizing them as unique individuals. Through continuous, fact-based discussions grounded in authentic experiences, we aim to promote a society that respects all lives equally, free from judgments based on existing values.