Perspectives of youths and adults improve the care of hospitalized adolescents in Spain

Abstract

Purpose: To determine and compare the preferences and priorities of youths and adults about the best ways to improve hospitals that would have an impact on the quality of life of hospitalized adolescents. Method: Participants in this study were 364 adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age (96 hospitalized) and 148 adults (96 parents of patients and 52 health professionals). All the participants completed a questionnaire about their preferences and priorities with regard to hospitalization. Results: A high degree of agreement among the youths and the adults was observed, especially in the importance assigned to agreeableness of clinical staff to improve adolescents' experience of hospitalization. Some discrepancies were also observed. The youths granted more importance to issues related to filling in time, specifically to the leisure technology available for patients. The adults assigned more importance to the organization of the hospital stay, in particular, for adolescents to be admitted with patients of the same age and for them to receive academic support in the hospital. Conclusions: Adolescents express a coherent perspective about the aspects that may help them to feel better in the hospital, in some ways different from the perspective of the adults who care for them.