Deciding with Children S2 Ep2: Is deciding with children a human right?

In paediatric practice, decision-making for children gradually shifts from parents making all the decisions for their child, in collaboration with the child’s doctors, to the young person becoming more involved in their own decision-making. This shift, which is based on an emerging autonomy in the child, brings with it a concurrent need for parents and clinicians alike to step back and to listen to the child, as they develop capacity for holding views about their healthcare. The self-regarding nature of medical decisions generates a strong obligation for young people's views to be heard about what will be done to them. In this episode we explore the degree to which considering the views of the child on their medical treatment is a duty for clinicians, and how this obligation fits within the human rights discourse. Host: Prof John Massie. Guests: Prof David Archard & Prof John Tobin.