Health Care

Health care is organised within health care systems and includes elements focussed on preventing health problems and providing suitable expertise and interventions when they arise. All children require access to care to support their healthy development, and most will require health-care interventions, some of which can be complex and demanding of children and families as well as of health-care professionals. Health care also highlights the social status of children; the extent to which their perspectives are respected, they can exercise rights. This entry considers special features of health care for children, preventive and other components of health-care systems, international variations in access to health care, the integration of health care and self-care, and issues that arise in decisions about children’s health care.