HPV and cervical cancer prevention counseling with younger adolescents: implications for primary care.
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PURPOSE: Primary care clinicians will continue to play an important role in cervical cancer prevention, particularly with regard to administration of the newly licensed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and continued administration of Papanicolaou tests. Little is known about the factors that influence cervical cancer prevention counseling, particularly in the adolescent encounter. We conducted a qualitative study to better understand the implications for counseling about cervical cancer prevention by primary care clinicians who care for adolescents. METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with 37 primary care clinicians in New Mexico to understand the context in which they provide anticipatory guidance about sexual health risks as well as their attitudes about counseling for the forthcoming HPV vaccine. RESULTS: Clinicians identified 4 categories of factors related to their counseling experiences with adolescents about HPV: (1) the need to build rapport with adolescent patients, (2) the presumption that adolescent patients engage in high-risk behaviors, (3) the situational delivery and complexity of HPV counseling, and (4) perceptions of clinician and community receptivity to the HPV vaccine. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that conditions of the preadolescent and young adolescent visit pose a challenge to the successful integration of counseling about cervical cancer prevention in primary care. Counseling strategies that are designed to emphasize a preventive focus while including parents in the discussion at the time of vaccination and that are appropriate to populations with different cultural values and beliefs will help to enhance communication about cervical cancer prevention and the particular role of the HPV vaccine. (+info)
Consent in paediatrics: a complex teaching assignment.
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The topic of consent in paediatrics is made more difficult, and at the same time more interesting, by the complexity of the issues involved and the consequent diversity of viewpoints. In a teaching session for senior medical students on consent in paediatrics it proved necessary to reinstate previous learning from a range of disciplines. Philosophical medical ethics, developmental psychology, communication skills and the appropriate legal definitions all contributed to a proper understanding of the cases presented. The two most important additional components appeared to be a) a basic knowledge of cognitive development and how to apply it, and b) an awareness of the need to balance an individual child's rights or best interests, with those of the family unit, as well as the wider society. (+info)