Health promotion needs of children and adolescents in hospitals : a review

The concept of health promotion for children and adolescents in hospitals is relatively new, and an international working group within the WHO-network of Health Promoting Hospitals, is currently seeking to establish specific guidelines. An exploratory study based on a literature review was performed in order to identify (i) what are the health promotion needs of children and adolescents when they access the hospital either as patients, as visitors, or as members of their community; and (ii) if there are any recommended strategies to empower children and strengthen their life-skills and participation capacity in the hospital, as recommended by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. The results of this literature review are mainly descriptive of current practices and recommendations regarding organizational issues, health-care providers' practice behavior, health-care providers' skills and training, children's education, education of parents and social environment.