Biomedical Decision-Making with Adolescent Patients

本研究探讨了青少年医学中使用的决策框架，以促进人格，青春期和生物医学护理的理论。青少年医学的决策特别复杂，因为青少年患者往往寻求做出自己的决定，同时仍然沉浸在家庭环境中。虽然成人的生物医学框架强调患者自主权，但青少年尚未被视为完全的社会或法律的人。该项目有可能有助于护理和亲属关系的意义和价值的科学理论，为生物医学决策框架提供信息，特别是针对非成年患者群体。本研究除了对博士生的培养提供支持外，还将向包括临床医生和家庭在内的学术和非学术受众广泛传播研究成果。具体而言，本项目旨在调查：1）临床医生、青少年患者和家庭使用什么意义和价值来制定决策框架？2)在青少年医学的实践中，尤其是在不同的社会群体中，决策是如何管理的？3)这些决策框架在生物医学背景下对青少年人格和亲属关系有何影响？数据将通过青少年医学诊所的民族志观察以及对临床医生、青少年和家庭成员的深入采访来收集。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research investigates the decision-making frameworks used in adolescent medicine in order to contribute to theories of personhood, adolescence, and biomedical care. Decision-making in adolescent medicine is particularly complex, as adolescent patients often seek to make their own decisions while remaining enmeshed in family contexts. While biomedical frameworks for adults emphasize patient autonomy, adolescents are not yet considered full social or legal persons. This project has the potential to contribute to scientific theories of the meanings and values of care and kinship that inform frameworks of biomedical decision-making, specifically for non-adult patient populations. In addition to supporting a doctoral student’s training, study results will be disseminated widely to academic and non-academic audiences, including clinicians and families.Specifically, this project aims to investigate: 1) What meanings and values do clinicians, adolescent patients, and families use to develop decision-making frameworks? 2) How is decision-making managed in practice in adolescent medicine, particularly among different social groups? 3) What are the implications of these decision-making frameworks for adolescent personhood and kin relations in biomedical contexts? Data will be collected through ethnographic observations in adolescent medicine clinics and in-depth interviews with clinicians, adolescents, and family members. The results aim to contribute to scientific understandings of adolescent personhood and forms of biomedical and familial care.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.