Involving Family Advisory Councils in decisions that impact pediatric healthcare demonstrates hospitals’ commitment to child- and family-centered care. Yet, reliance on advisors as the sole source of family input has several limitations: infrequent meetings impedes the council’s capacity to address emerging concerns in a timely manner; feedback obtained from a small number of highly-engaged family members may not represent the perspectives of “typical” patients and families; advisors provide feedback in a reactive manner and are generally not equitably involved in problem identification or the initial development of solutions.
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