Family-Centred Care

Abstract

By nature, all human beings start life within family units. Children instinctively call for ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ at the first sign of trouble or anxiety. In spite of these obvious truths, many otherwise excellent children’s homes, hospitals or maternity units, have for years practised what amounts to ‘parentectomies’, the cutting-off of parental contact, in the name of progressive and therapeutic care. We have forsaken the ‘doing what comes naturally’ for the pursuit of objective clinical demands, albeit with the best of intentions. But what use are good intentions if we ignore the emotional repercussions of what we do or what we omit to do? In our ‘scientific’ concern we have neglected the equally important, if not vital, role of the family. TLC, the tender loving care that the nurse is taught to lavish on her patients has been treated as the right approach. So it is. It fails only insomuch as it is thought to be in any way an adequate substitute for the tangible presence of the child’s mother and father.