Questions directed to children with diverse communicative competencies in paediatric healthcare consultations

Objective
This paper examines question-response sequences, in which clinicians asked questions to child patients who appear to interact using means other than the verbal mode of communication.

Methods
Conversation Analysis methods were used to study questions in 46 paediatric palliative care consultations. These questions were directed towards children who observably used vocalisations and embodied modes of communication (e.g., gaze, gesture and facial expressions) but did not appear to use the verbal mode.

Results
Most questions asked children either about their willingness and preferences for a proposed next activity, or their current feelings, experiences or intentions. Questions involved children by foregrounding their preferences and feelings. These questions occasioned contexts where the child’s vocal or embodied conduct could be treated as a relevant response.

Conclusion
This paper demonstrates how questions are used to involve children in consultations about their own healthcare, and how their views come to be understood by clinicians and family members, even when children interact using means other than the verbal mode of communication.

Practice Implications
Questions can be asked of both children who do and do not verbally communicate. When asking questions, clinicians should be mindful of the modes of communication an individual child uses to consider how the child might meaningfully respond.