Although the rights of children to health and healthcare are well established, they are often not translated into practice within healthcare and children’s services.

The Council of Europe Guidelines on child-friendly healthcare propose an integrated approach that places children’s rights, needs and resources at the centre of healthcare services, taking into account their family and social environment.⁴ The five principles – participation, promotion, protection, prevention and provision – are particularly relevant to the child-friendly healthcare approach.

Participation 

The principle of participation has three dimensions in the health field. On the individual decision- making level, if the child is able to consent to an intervention according to law, the intervention may only be carried out after the child has given his or her free and informed consent. At the second level, children should be given the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience after they have used healthcare services. At the third level, children should be involved in public decision-making procedures on healthcare issues, including the assessment, planning and improvement of healthcare services.

Promotion

Health promotion includes all actions that allow children to become more involved in their own health and increase their exposure to positive determinants of health, as well as factors in healthcare services and settings which will improve outcomes. Children having repeated or long-term contact with health services should be able to maintain contact with their families and friends; their education or future health should not be impaired through a prolonged stay in hospital.

Protection

All children require protection from potential health hazards, including while using health services, but some children are more vulnerable than others either because they have a long-term condition that impairs their abilities, or because they live in sub-optimal circumstances. Child-friendly reporting systems should be put in place and professionals working with and for children should be subject to regular screening to ensure their suitability to work with children.

Prevention

Prevention aims to avoid future health, social or emotional problems with actions such as reducing adverse health determinants, preventing the development of a disease or condition or preventing its impact on the lifestyle of the patient in order to prevent harm caused by a service or intervention. This includes vaccination and screening programmes, as well as education and awareness-raising activities, particularly about children’s rights to health and healthcare. 

Provision 

All children should have equitable access to quality services which contribute to the health and well-being of children and families. Specific healthcare provision may be needed for more vulnerable children, such as children with disabilities, children in residential institutions, homeless and street children, children living in low-income families, Roma children, migrant children, refugee and asylum-seeking children, unaccompanied children, and abused and neglected children.

Health education 

The positive relationship between education and health is widely acknowledged. This is a reciprocal relationship: better education generally results in better health. Better health, in turn, enables people to invest more time, money and energy in education. The main aim of health education is to inform people about healthy attitudes and practices in order to bring about changes in behaviour. Children need to understand that they are partly responsible for the state of their own health and can influence the health of other people in their family and community.

Effective health education provides children with learning experiences that build understanding, and encourage positive attitudes and healthy decisions to last throughout their lives. Important issues include the following: the state of their emotional health and promoting a positive self-image; respect and care for the human body; physical fitness; an awareness of harmful addictions such as alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; positive nutrition; safe sexual relationships. Sexuality education is of central importance for teenagers, helping them to develop a healthy body awareness and be safe from unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual violence.
 

My Hero is You, Storybook for Children on COVID-19
The book My Hero is You was developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings in co-operation with global, regional and country based experts. A global survey was carried out to assess children’s mental health and psychosocial needs during the COVID-19 outbreak. A framework of topics to be addressed through the story was developed using the survey results of more than 1,700 children, parents, care-givers and teachers from around the world. The book was translated and shared through storytelling to children in several countries affected by COVID-19. 
More information

⁴ Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2011) on Guidelines on childfriendly health care

See also Human rights instruments and initiatives >>