A comunicacao medico - paciente pediatrico - familia na perspectiva da crianca

The objective of this research was to outline the communication between doctor, pediatric patient and the family from the perspective of the child with chronic disease. Fifteen hospitalized children have participated in it, the included age range being between 5 and 13 years old; Firstly, semi-structured interviews were applied and then the data was analyzed according to the ‘thematic content analysis technique’. The analysis resulted in 5 categories: type of communication, content communicated, communication doctor - pediatric patient - family, intra-family communication and sources of information. The children examined showed two types of communication: direct and indirect. In relation to the content of the communication, the children remembered the moments which generated less suffering. All the children said the professionals talked more to their parents, rather than directly to them. Familiar communication was said to be the main source of information about the illness. In this way it was seen that children have the capacity to understand and perceive what happens with their bodies, however professionals and family tend to omit information with the intention of protecting them from greater suffering