Ethical Decision Making in Children's Healthcare

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Children, which investigates and explores the ethical dimensions of healthcare encounters experienced by children, adolescents, and their families in diverse contexts. The importance of ethical decision making in healthcare cannot be overstated; ethical considerations are fundamental to maintaining trust, professionalism, and the well-being of both patients and healthcare professionals.

As the number of children with complex medical needs increases, technical solutions, driven by advances in treatment possibilities, have become integral to the long-term management of their conditions. This development brings forth new ethical challenges, which, however, remain insufficiently discussed on a global scale. What ethical challenges emerge in relation to everyday care? Do these challenges vary across different socioeconomic and cultural contexts? We know little about how ethical considerations are influenced by different organizational models within high-technological care. Furthermore, children’s and adolescents’ own ethical perspectives, as well as the ethical challenges posed by new technological demands on healthcare staff, are areas that require further exploration.

For this Special Issue, we invite articles that address the topic “ethical decision making in childhood healthcare”. It is essential for healthcare professionals to prioritize ethical considerations in their practice, as doing so not only benefits patients but also contributes to the overall improvement of the healthcare system. Qualitative or quantitative contributions from basic or applied research that will improve the knowledge on key topics within this field are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Janet Yvonne Mattsson
Prof. Dr. Gunilla Björling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ethics
• encounter
• high technological care
• moral
• child health care