Background

Children’s participation in all situations that matter to them is one of the fundamental rights according to UN: s Convention on the Rights of the Child. A healthcare situation is challenging for young children and ways of improving participation are important. Situated participation is facilitated by professionals who are aware of their child perspective which includes attention of the child’s perspective.

Aim

The aim, for a Swedish project, was, with the child’s perspective in focus, to construct an interactive communication tool to facilitate younger children’s, aged three to five years, participation in healthcare situations.

Method

A phenomenographic approach combined with a qualitative iterative development process has been used for constructing the IACTA tool. Children in a preschool, primary healthcare clinic and an outpatient unit at a hospital participated in interviews combined with vignettes and drawings as well as in iterative phases evaluating evolving prototypes. The project was approved by the regional ethic committee.

Findings

The children’s verbal and non-verbal perceptions of being in healthcare situations revealed descriptions of actions where everyone present in the situations was perceived as actors. The perceptions of the specific situation itself was described as well. These perceptions were used in both content and graphic design in the evolving interactive prototypes. An on-going iterative feedback from the children, who participated as co-designers, subsequently transformed the prototypes into a usable, likeable and age appropriate interactive communication tool, IACTA.

Conclusion

Visual guidance by an interactive communication tool, which is age appropriate and likeable for younger children, is one possible way to pathways and openings for young children’s participation in healthcare situations.

Implications

An increased situated participation, as well as improved understanding of the specific situation, contributes in a positive way for the child in the present healthcare situation as well as in similar situations in the future.