Family Centred Care: Concept, Theory and Practice

Media Reviews

The General Practice Jigsaw:The Future of Education, Training andProfessional Developmentedited by Steve Field, Bob Strachan andGai Evans.Radcliffe Medical Press, Oxford, 2001,332 pages, £29Æ95, ISBN 1 85775545 6.

This book is based upon material frompresentations and workshops at a recentannual conference of PostgraduateAdvisers in General Practice in UKuniversities. The timing of this confer-ence (2000) came at a bad time for themedical profession generally: the NewLabour government’s determination tooverhaul medical education and practicehad been strengthened by public scan-dals such as Bristol Royal Infirmary,Shipman and Ledward. From the per-spective of general medical practice,morale was low, workloads were heavy,and new terms and conditions of workwere imminent – and on top of all this,primary care practitioners were expec-ted to take a leading role in new PrimaryCare Trusts.

The book opens with the patient’sperspective on general practice, and sug-gests how patient feedback can be usedfor quality control. It then covers suchtopics as vocational training for generalpractice, continuing professional devel-opment, support for poorly performingdoctors, and establishing clinical gov-ernance in primary care. The bookcontains much useful, general informa-tion in these areas. It is reassuring toknow that GPs are making seriousefforts to improve their standards ofeducation and practice; but it seems ashame that nurses (or any other profes-sional colleagues) are not mentioned atall by the contributors.

Cherill ScottRCN Institute, UK

Family Centred Care: Concept, Theoryand Practiceedited by Lynda Smith, Valerie Colemanand Maureen Bradshaw.Palgrave, Basingstoke, 2001, 192 pages,£16Æ99, ISBN 0 333 92293 X.

The purpose of this volume is to helpboth those who are learning and thosewho are teaching family-centred care tounderstand its theoretical underpinningsand, more importantly, how it can beput into practice. Based on a synthesis ofcurrent and past concepts, the authorspropose that family-centred care beviewed as a continuum from nurse-ledcare in which the parents have minimalinvolvement, through increasing paren-tal participation and decreasing leader-ship by the nurse, to a partnershiprelationship in which parents and nursehave equal status, and finally to com-pletely parent-led care. Importantly, theauthors argue that for any individualfamily there is no ideal point on thiscontinuum – the balance of the leader-ship by parents or nurse depends on thechild and family’s needs and preferencesat the time. Useful clinical examples andguidelines for implementing family-centred care are given, with a focus ondeveloping skills for assessing familyneeds and empowering families. Thetheoretical and clinical content isenriched by discussion of institutionaland societal issues that affect bothexpectations of families and the abilityof nurses to practice family-centred care,including evolving definitions of family,societal views of parenting, obstacles tothe empowerment of nurses themselves,and professional and legal issues whenleadership of care is given to the family.The authors write from within theBritish health care and paediatric edu-cational systems, however, paediatricnurses in most countries will find thisvolume of great value for implementing

family-centred care in both institutionaland community settings.

Patricia T. BeckerUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Critical Reflection for Nursing and theHelping Professions: A User’s Guideby Gary Rolfe, Dawn Freshwater andMelanie Jasper.Palgrave, Basingstoke, 2001, 194 pages,£17Æ99, ISBN 0 333 77795 6.

Critical reflection for nursing and otherhealth care professions is intended pri-marily for qualified practitioners,although undergraduate nurses underta-king modules on reflection may find thisa useful text. The emphasis of the book isas a practical guide combined with therelevant theoretical underpinning. Thebook is clearly laid out and designed toprovide a practical and interactiveapproach for practitioners who wish todevelop their critical reflective skills.

The book is divided into eight chap-ters which cover sources of knowledgefor practice, models and theories ofreflection, reflective writing, togetherwith two chapters covering models andmodes of clinical supervision, supervi-sory relationships and facilitation ofgroup supervision in practice. The finaltwo chapters make the links betweencritical reflection and research and crit-ical reflection and learning. Eachchapter provides clear aims, discussionpoints, reflective writing activities andfurther references to key issues. Thisuseful text achieves its intention of beinga practical guide and demonstrates thevalue of critical reflection in enablingpractitioners to uncover knowledgeembedded in practice to use as a legit-imate source of knowledge for practice.

Christine HoweUniversity of Hull, UK

� 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd 747