Authors: R Tuckwell D Wood S MansfieldSturgess J Brierley
Publish Date: 2016/12/19
Volume: 176, Issue: 2, Pages: 155-161
Abstract
Adolescents have specific healthcare needs distinct from adults or younger children secondary to anatomical physiological and sociobehavioural differences Healthcare providers have been slow to address this leading the UK Department of Health 2011 to publish ‘You’re Welcome’ quality criteria for services for young people In the UK the term young people is preferred to adolescent These generic criteria poorly fit the critical care environment omitting key issues whilst insisting upon irrelevant standards But as young people are infrequent patients for any individual unit the research base to guide optimal management is poor and we could find no international or national guidance Together with the hospital’s young people’s group our intensive care team identified six areas important for critically ill young people which are the 6Ps privacy permission deep vein thrombosis DVT prophylaxis personal life puberty and practical issues We then surveyed practice across Europe regarding these themes Fiftyfour hospitals from 16 countries participated demonstrating disparate practice and widely differing policies to meet the requirements of critically ill young people
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