Opening a Pandora's Box that can't be salvaged: Health professionals’ perceptions of appearance-related care in an Australian pediatric specialist hospital

Newcombe, P.; Gee, Caroline; Maskell, Jessica; Newcombe, Peter; Kimble, Roy; Williamson, Heidi

Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Many children and young people struggle adjusting to the psychosocial consequences (e.g., body dissatisfaction, social anxiety, and stigmatisation) of visible differences (or disfigurement). As appearance-affecting conditions often require specialist multidisciplinary team care, health professionals are in a unique position to offer psychosocial support and intervention. However, there is a dearth of literature on how appearance-related concerns are managed in pediatric hospital settings. Sixteen Australian specialist health professionals participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews to address this gap. Interviews explored current appearance-related psychosocial service provision, barriers in accessing appearance-related care, and perceptions of online platforms to deliver specialist support and intervention. Thematic analysis demonstrated four themes: We can do it better, Capability versus availability, Online generation, and Putting appearance on the agenda. This research highlighted the potential value of online platforms to increase accessibility to specialist appearance-related care, the need for more psychosocial resources to be integrated into appearance-related specialities, prioritising the development of low to medium appearance-related support and intervention, increasing the appearance-related knowledge of health professionals and families, and the need for more holistic approaches in routine care.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 27, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 10, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 28, 2021
• Journal: Body Image
• Print ISSN: 1740-1445
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Pages: 1-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.07.004
• Keywords: Applied Psychology; General Psychology; Social Psychology
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/2890896
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Opening a Pandora’s Box that can’t be salvaged: Health professionals’ perceptions of appearance-related care in an Australian pediatric specialist hospital; Journal Title: Body Image; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.07.004; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.