Helping Families Make Tough Healthcare Decisions
About Family Decision Services
At CHEO, families are equal partners on the healthcare team. We provide family-centered care, recognizing and respecting the expertise and continuous role of the family in their child or youth's life.
We understand that being in the hospital or dealing with the healthcare system can be difficult, confusing and stressful, especially when the health of a child or youth is involved. We can provide tools (like decision aids) and resources (like trained decision coaches) that families can access to improve their understanding of the problems and options, decide what is most important to them, and communicate their preferences to their healthcare team. Together, we can address the child and family's needs.
Development of CHEO Family Decision Services began in June 2009. Our goal is to help families partner with healthcare providers to make decisions that are right for their child; decisions that they will be able to put in place with support. We believe that a good decision is informed and consistent with what matters most to the family. We want children, their families and the healthcare team to be satisfied with the process of decision making.
At this time, we are working with researchers to create and improve tools and methods that can lead to better communication about decisions between families and the healthcare team. In the future, we will provide counseling and decision support directly to CHEO families who are facing difficult health care decisions.
Contact Us
Tel: 613-737-7600 (x4115)
Email: decisions@cheo.on.ca