Family Centred Service means that KidsAbility Centre for Child Development practices in a manner consistent with Family-Centred service.
Premises
- Parents know their children best and want the best for their children
- Families are different and unique
- Optimal child functioning occurs within a supportive family and community context; the child is affected by the stress and coping of family members
Guiding Principles
- Each family should have the opportunity to decide the level of involvement they wish in the decision-making for their child
- Each family and family member should be treated with respect
- The needs of family members should be considered
- The involvement of all family members should be supported and encouraged
- Parents should have ultimate responsibility for the care of their children
- Parents are the child’s best advocates. Effective advocacy is a positive process
- Click here to download "Advocating For Your Child"
Elements (Key Service Provider Behaviours)*
- To encourage parent decision-making in partnership with other team members
- To assist families in identifying their strengths and building their own resources
- To provide information to encourage informed choices
- To assist in identifying needs and to work in partnership with parents and children to help them prioritize their needs from their own perspective
- To collaborate with parents at all levels including the care of the child, program development, implementation and evaluation and policy formation
- To provide accessible services that will not overwhelm families with paperwork and bureaucratic red tape
- To share complete information about their child’s care on an ongoing basis
- To respect the values, wishes and priorities of the family
- To accept and support decisions made by the family
- To listen
- To provide individualized service that is flexible and changes with the needs of the family
- To accept and to be knowledgeable about diversity among families
- To believe and trust parents
- To communicate clearly in a language understandable by parents
- To consider and be sensitive to the psychological needs of all family members
- To encourage participation of all family members
- To respect the family’s own style of coping without judging what is right
- To encourage the use of community supports
- To recognize and build on family and child strengths
*Adopted from CanChild 1996
Click here for Doc Talk - Family Centred Service b y Director of Medical Services, Janet Speight MD (Feb 2009). |