Children’s Participation in Health-Related Decisions in a Pediatric Oncology Setting in New Delhi, India

The aim of this project is to better understand children’s actual and desired participation in discussions, decisions, and actions that affect them in a pediatric oncology setting in New Delhi, India. This study is within the emerging field of childhood ethics and will be guided by a moral experience framework, which means it aims to encompass the child’s sense that values he or she believes to be important are being realized in their every day life. While using the moral experience frame, the methodology that will be used for this study is focused ethnography, a form of participatory research. This includes participant observation, interviews, and key document analysis. The results of this study have the potential to be used to tailor nursing interventions to the direct needs of the children whose perspectives will be heard through this project. It is expected that the results will highlight the capacity children have to participate in matters that affect them and advance the understanding of children’s experiences with cancer in India for health care professionals, policy makers, families, and interested others.

Faculty Supervisor:

Franco Carnevale

Student:

Justine Behan

Partner:

Discipline:

Nursing

Sector:

University:

McGill University

Program:

Globalink Research Award