Article

OBJECTIVE: To review children's and their families' needs after a child's
traumatic injury and assessment tools to measure needs.
DATA SOURCES: Medline,
Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases (2005-September 2017) were searched and
screened for papers (of any design) investigating children's and families' needs
after a child's traumatic physical injury. METHODS:
Data regarding
children's and families' needs were extracted by two independent raters.
Methodological quality of the identified papers was not assessed. Thematic
content analysis drew out the key needs. RESULTS: A total of 12 studies were
identified, involving 932 participants including 105 injured adolescents and 827
family members or professionals. The needs of children under 12 years were
identified indirectly from families or professionals. Most studies focussed on
traumatic brain injuries. Two groups of needs were identified: person-related and
service-related. Person-related needs were categorized into adolescent-specific
needs, need for support with cognitive, emotional, social and physical problems
and help with practical problems. Service-related needs were categorized into the
need for information, educational needs and support during care transitions
(specifically access to community-based services). These needs were largely
unmet, particularly regarding information, emotional support and care
transitions, which were compounded by professionals' limited understanding of the
children's difficulties. We found no published measurement tools to assess
children's and families' needs after a child's traumatic injury. CONCLUSION: The
evidence about children's and families' needs following a child's traumatic
injury was limited, but needs for information, emotional support and access to
community-based services were consistently unmet.

Langue : ANGLAIS