Cultural challenges in getting it right for every child: a reflective account

In November 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCHR, 1989) was opened for ratification by all member countries. The UK ratified the convention in December 1991 (Children's Rights Alliance for England, no date). This has led to a number of initiatives, policies and research in Scotland which have initiated positive changes placing the child's well-being first (Scottish Executive, 2004a; Scottish Executive, 2004b; Scottish Government, 2008a; Scottish Government, 2010a).

This has ultimately led to Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), the Scottish Government's key initiative aimed at creating a professional inter-agency approach to improving outcomes for all Scottish children. It envisages a fully integrated system where all children in Scotland are healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, included, but above all, safe (Scottish Government, 2001) (Figure 1). There are challenges in the GIRFEC approach for health care professionals working in a multi-cultural society; one challenge is that of inclusion, empowerment and enabling shared decision-making. The following article presents a case in the form of a reflective account, which was particularly challenging in terms of these important factors in delivering safe and effective care. This reflective account is presented using the Gibbs reflective Practice Cycle (Gibbs, 1998) (Figure 2).