In contrast, professionals were far more ambivalent about care at home if the child became unwell. Around half of professionals felt that children with serious illness should be cared for at home, whereas parents told us that they rarely called an emergency ambulance even if their child’s condition sometimes merited it. Sharing of information between parents, young people and professionals At the outset of the study we were interested to know if parents

and young people would share (or not) their own My Choices care planning booklets with healthcare professionals. Findings from the 20 professionals who responded to the post study questionnaire revealed that only one Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical reported parents or children/young people had “once or twice” shared their filled in My Choices booklet with them. This lack of sharing information matches with parents’ narratives about the booklet being theirs and to help them think about things, rather than Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical share the content with others. Six months also may not have been sufficient time for parents to start thinking about whether they wanted to, or how best to use the booklet, or whether there were significant care planning issues that

they felt needed their attention Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical during this relatively brief time. In addition, some parents may not have met with their healthcare professionals since receiving the booklets. Those healthcare professionals who felt that the My Choices booklets would be helpful, also suggested that the content could be photocopied and kept within the service as a shared resource. ‘Definitely, yeah, I mean it’s, the idea of it is great isn’t it? …. something like that, if you could duplicate once it’s been completed, then they could have

a copy on the ward, erm, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical selleckchem because they don’t know how to look after these children, on the ward.’ (Community Nurse) Previous parental experiences of care planning Evidence from families who had been involved previously in care planning indicated that there was no consistent approach locally or nationally. Care planning was often dictated by parents following a change also in their child’s condition. There was some evidence of planning ahead but this was often only for short periods for example, for an hour a day with hands on care, during summer holidays and frequently this additional care was unavailable. Parents were also worried about planning too far ahead as their child’s condition could change. The following mother described her experiences of care planning: “No, we do just six months at a time, because I think, you know, I sort of like tend to look at the here and now, because this is to me what’s important, what’s happening now. You know? Twelve months time, something totally different could happen, and so I just think, right, if we deal with now, rather than worry about twelve months time, and I can think about that when it comes..