Behavioral Coping Plans: One Inter-Professional Team's Approach to Patient-Centered Care.

BACKGROUND: Surgical encounters for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are stressful to patients, families and health care providers. It is recognized that parents best anticipate needs of children with ASD. Including a family in the plan of care for the child is imperative. In response to the need for targeted, tailored care, an inter-professional surgical services team convened to determine best practices for addressing a behavioral and developmental plan for children with ASD in the surgical services arena.

PURPOSE: This evidence based practice project was conducted to optimize best practices for perioperative staff in caring for children with ASD through a targeted, individualized plan of care for the autistic child and his or her family.

METHODS: Psychosocial and medical care strategies were utilized to create a coping plan with standardized questions. The coping plan allowed for tailored interventions specific to each child's needs.

CONCLUSION: Actively reducing the anxiety a child experiences in a current encounter is paramount to the success of future visits. The coping plan is a formalized summary aimed at helping healthcare providers give individualized care, thereby decreasing the anxiety of both the parent and child. The individualized plan outlines the needs of the patient and allows for the medical team to make adaptations to lessen the stressors a health care visit can present. Plans are shared with the medical team, documented, and updated in the electronic medical record for future encounters. Information captured includes: previous healthcare experiences, sensory sensitivities, communication methods, stressors and coping suggestions. Utilizing best practice, patients are able to receive individualized care to foster positive coping experiences within healthcare.