5 Children with Special Health Care Needs
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Relate family-centered care and individualized planning and care.
- Explain what individualized health planning is and who it is appropriate for.
- Describe some chronic health conditions that children in early care and education programs may have.
- Discuss what inclusion is and why it is beneficial.
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Licensing Regulations WAC regulations that relate to this chapter include:
110-300-0300 INIDIVIDUAL CARE PLAN[1]
110-300-0215 MEDICATION[2]
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Introduction
Children with special health care needs are defined as “. . . those who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally” (McPherson, 1998).
Any child who meets these criteria in an early care and education setting should have an up-to-date care plan, completed by their primary health care provider with input from parents/guardians, included in their on-site health record and readily accessible to those caring for the child.[3]
Individualized Planning for Health
What does it take to care for children with chronic conditions in an early care and education program? There’s no single recipe for all situations. What it takes—more than any policy, list of services, or staffing plan—is a commitment to communication, collaboration, and creative problem-solving, and a determination to make it work. The essential principles that should guide the care of children with chronic conditions in early childhood education are: care should be family-centered, individualized, safe, and legal.
Family-Centered Care
Over the last 15 years, children’s health care and the relationship between families and health professionals have changed significantly. The role of parents/caregivers has shifted from being patients to partners with the health care provider; and the “good patient” has changed from unquestioningly following advice to being a good partner who actively participates in decisions and advocates for services for their child.
“Family-centered care” involves providing the family health care and other services based on the family’s needs, priorities, and convenience rather than those of the service providers or the child alone. Family-centered services are evidence of a program’s commitment to family partnerships and supporting child and family development.
Services are family-centered when:
- The family is recognized as the child’s most constant and important caregiver.
- The family and professionals collaborate as partners.
- Communication is open and honest, in both directions, between the family and professionals.
- Individual strengths and differences are respected among families.
- Services are flexible and responsive to the family’s needs.
- Family-to-family support is encouraged.
- Children with chronic conditions and their fami