Developmentally appropriate healthcare for young people: a scoping study.

Albert Farre, Victoria Wood, Tim Rapley, Jeremy R Parr, Debbie Reape, Janet Mcdonagh

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    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: There is increasing recognition of the importance of providing quality healthcare to meet the biopsychosocial needs of young people. 'Developmentally appropriate healthcare' (DAH) for young people is one term used to explain what these services consist of. However, this term remains ill defined. AIMS: (i) To analyse the use of the term DAH in the scientific literature and (ii) to identify and explore the range of meanings attributed to the term in relation to young people. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted to map the presence of the term DAH in the literature. To analyse the use and meanings attributed to the DAH terminology, data underwent qualitative content analysis using a summative approach. RESULTS: 62 papers were selected and subjected to content analysis. An explicit definition of DAH was provided in only 1 of the 85 uses of the term DAH within the data set and in none of the 58 uses of the prefix 'developmentally appropriate'. A link between the use of the term DAH and the domains of adolescent medicine, young people, chronic conditions and transitional care was identified; as were the core ideas underpinning the use of DAH. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for consistency in the use of the term DAH for young people, the related stage-of-life terminology and age range criteria. Consensus is now needed as to the content and range of a formal conceptual and operational definition.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)144-151
    JournalArchives of Disease in Childhood
    Volume100
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Feb 2015

    Keywords

    • Adolescent Development
    • Adolescent Health Services
    • Adolescents
    • Young Adults

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