Listening carefully. Improving communication about behavior and development. Recognizing parental concerns

Abstract

A simple checklist was developed for completion by parents prior to their regular meetings with their pediatricians for health supervision. Its efficacy in improving communication between pediatricians and parents about behavioral and developmental concerns was evaluated. Without the checklist, 30 percent of parents' concerns were discussed. More items overall, and more items that were concerns of the parent, were discussed with the use of the checklist than without it (p less than 0.05). An intermediate but statistically significant effect was observed even when the pediatrician did not see the completed checklist (43% of concerns were discussed); this effect was increased when he did (53% of concerns discussed). There were marked differences among pediatricians in the number of concerns that were discussed both with and without use of the checklist. Items regarding patterns of family life and child care, death or illness, siblings, and other stresses of modern families were frequently indicated as concerns on the checklist but were less frequently discussed. The data demonstrate the effectiveness of a simple and efficient method to improve communication about childrens' behavior and development between their parents and their pediatricians.