How to introduce Choice?
It’s important to make the family feel welcome and active and to set a clear context for the session. This can be done from the very first moments the family have contact with your service e.g. in the explanation the referrer gives them about you, in the letter inviting them to book in and in the leaflet you have sent. The aim is to emphasise that the family have some choice in what they want and that the work is a partnership between us and them, not a one-way street. Your language should reflect this where possible e.g. ‘work together’ not ‘treat’, ‘help you choose’ not ‘tell you’ and ‘share our thoughts’ not ‘give an opinion’ .
Here are some elements to cover and suggested phrases that may be helpful:
“Hi I’m Dr Steve Kingsbury. I’m a child psychiatrist in the team. We call today a Choice appointment. It is a one-off appointment and the aim is for us to meet together and by the end make a choice with you about what you think will be helpful. Some families find that today’s appointment is enough to get them back on track and that they don’t want another appointment [families nod in agreement here] or we might find that you really need another agency or service and we’ll help you get in contact with them or we might decide together that coming back to CAMHS is the best idea. If you do decide to come back we will think with you about the goals you want and choose a clinician that has the right skills to meet these goals [families nod in agreement here too]. Then at the end of this appointment I will go and find our Partnership diary and book you in for that clinician so you will leave with the next appointment booked”.
Then explain about confidentiality and that you will summarise the issues in writing and send this to them, their referrer and others that are relevant.