Perspectives of Youths and Adults Improve the Care of Hospitalized Adolescents in Spain

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine and compare the preferences and priorities of youths and adults about the best ways to improve hospitals to have an impact on the quality of life of hospitalized adolescents.MethodParticipants in this study were 364 adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age (96 hospitalized) and 148 adults (96 parents of patients and 52 health professionals). All the participants completed a questionnaire about their preferences and priorities with regard to hospitalization.ResultsA high degree of agreement among the youths and the adults was observed, especially regarding the importance assigned to agreeableness of clinical staff to improveadolescents’ experience of hospitalization. Some discrepancies also were observed. The youths granted more importance to issues related to filling in time, specifically to the leisure technology available for patients. The adults assigned more importance to the organization of the hospital stay, in particular, for adolescents to be admitted with patients of the same age and for them to receive academic support in the hospital.ConclusionsAdolescents express a coherent perspective about the aspects that may help them feel better in the hospital that in some ways is different from the perspective of the adults who care for them.