Questions to promote child-centered care in racially discordant interactions in pediatric oncology

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine questioning practices in racially discordant interactions and describe how these practices engendered child-centered care. MethodsWe used applied conversation analysis to analyze a collection of 300 questions directed to children across 10 cases involving children of color and their families in disease reevaluation appointments in pediatric oncology. ResultsOur analysis generated two patterns: 1) both the pediatric oncologists’ and caregivers built upon one another’s talk to enable the child’s conversational turn, and 2) the oncologists’ reformulated requests as questions to invite the child’s permission and cooperation for completing exams and understanding symptoms. ConclusionChildren, pediatric oncologists, and caregivers coordinated their actions to enable children to participate as recipients of and respondents to questions. The analysis of real-time interactions illuminates practices for centering children in clinical encounters and the benefits of doing so. Practical implicationsThis study’s findings have implications for defining competencies and practices for fostering child-centered communication, creating training materials based on real-time encounters, and identifying strategies for humanizing pediatric patient experiences.