Factors that influence family and parental preferences and decision making for unscheduled paediatric healthcare: a systematic review protocol

Emma Nicholson,Therese Mcdonnell,Marie Galligan,Fiona Kiernan,Claire Collins,Christopher Brunsdon,Michael Barrett,Eilish Mcauliffe,Moayed Hamza,Conor Hensey,Gerard Bury,Conor Deasy,Aoife De Brun,Martin Charlton,John Fitzsimons

doi:10.12688/hrbopenres.12897.1

Abstract

There is a plethora of factors that dictate where parents and families choose to seek unscheduled healthcare for their child; and the complexity of these decisions can present a challenge for policy makers and healthcare planners as these behaviours can have a significant impact on resources in the health system. The systematic review will seek to identify the factors that influence parents’ and families’ preferences and decision making when seeking unscheduled paediatric healthcare. Five databases will be searched for published studies (CINAHL, PubMed, SCOPUS, PsycInfo, EconLit) and grey literature will also be searched. Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied and articles assessed for quality. A narrative approach will be used to synthesise the evidence that emerges from the review. By collating the factors that influence decision-making and attendance at these services, the review can inform future health policies and strategies seeking to expand primary care to support the provision of accessible and responsive care. The systematic review will also inform the design of a discrete choice experiment (DCE) which will seek to determine parental and family preferences for unscheduled paediatric healthcare. Policies such as Sláintecare that seek to expand primary care and reduce hospital admissions from emergency departments need to be cognisant of the nuanced and complex factors that govern patients’ behaviour.

Highlights

Paediatric use of unscheduled healthcare Paediatric populations account for a significant number of attendances at emergency departments (EDs) and general practices (GP) in Ireland (Wren et al, 2017), with children aged under 6 alone constituting approximately 14% of overall visits to the ED (Wren et al, 2017)
There is a General Information Article Title Authors Country of Origin Introduction Aims and Rationale Details on Health System Research Question Participant Details Sample Size Age Gender Relationship to child Socioeconomic factors Paediatric Population Age Specific disease group or condition Reason for seeking unscheduled healthcare Methods Sampling Strategy Study Design Data Collection Data Analysis Outcomes Factors influencing behaviour and/or decision making/ Preferences elicited broad range of potential study designs that may emerge from the searches and as a primary outcome for the review, the team will extract any factors that emerge directly from the study which have been stated to influence decision-making, behaviour or any preferences elicited from the research
Much research has focused on patients’ attitudes and decision-making in relation to specific components of unscheduled care (i.e., GP, out-of-hours or ED), whereas there is less evidence relating patient behaviour that pertains to all forms of unscheduled healthcare

Summary

14 Jun 2019 report report

Policies such as Sláintecare that seek to expand primary care and reduce hospital admissions from emergency departments need to be cognisant of the nuanced and complex factors that govern patients’ behaviour. General practice, out of hours, emergency department, decision-making article can be found at the end of the article. This article is included in the Maternal and Child Health collection.

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