At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, we are committed to providing the best care and services to you and your child. We understand that you are your child's primary caregiver and source of safety and support -- a role that shouldn't change as a result of an illness or injury. We value our ability to partner with parents and family members in the care of their children, and this partnership is the keystone of our philosophy of care.

This partnership with families in the care of their loved-ones is often referred to as family-centered care.

The key elements of family-centered care are:

• Recognizing that the family is the constant in the child's life
• Facilitating family/professional collaboration at all levels of service delivery
• Honoring the racial, ethnic, cultural, spiritual, and socioeconomic diversity of families
• Recognizing family strengths and respecting different ways of coping
• Encouraging family-to-family support
• Sharing with families, on a continuing and supportive basis, complete and unbiased information
• Understanding and incorporating the developmental needs of infants, children and adolescents into the delivery system
• Implementing policies and programs that provide emotional and financial support
• Designing accessible service systems that are flexible, culturally competent and responsive to family-identified needs

http://www.chop.edu/index.html