Read time: ~ 5 minutes

Days in the clinic are busy. Much like how we create to-do lists, grocery lists and events in a calendar, it is helpful both healthcare professionals and caregivers to have a framework or checklists that act as a guide when caring for children and youth. A few of our didactic speakers presented worksheets that provide a framework for clinical techniques such as motivational interviewing and behavioural analysis.

Although our didactic presentations are recorded and available for review, the rich discussion and recommendations come from the patient case discussion. The practical use of the worksheets below were demonstrated during the patient case discussion. We encourage you to submit patient cases and join our live sessions to engage in conversations around caring for children and youth.

Here are 10 worksheets presented throughout Paediatric Project ECHOs sessions in 2020:

(S)OARS Cheat Sheets

One of best techniques to promote change and move forward is motivational interviewing. The guiding principle behind motivational interviewing is collaboration. SOARS provides a framework to use different techniques when practicing motivational interviewing. Dr. Elizabeth Dettmer and Dr. Andrea Regina dive into these techniques in our 3-part Motivational Interviewing Practice Boosters sessions^1,2,3.

These worksheets can help healthcare providers apply these SOARS techniques.

• SOARS Cheat Sheet 1
• Techniques for Dancing with Discord
• Self-SOARing
• SOARS Cheat Sheet 2
• Collaborative Problem Solving Worksheet

Antecedent Behaviour Consequence (ABC) Data Sheet

The ABC tool was provided by Dr. Alvin Loh, our didactic speaker for the “Special considerations for pain in children and youth with severe neurological impairment” session. This ABC data sheet is used to to analyze the function of behaviour. It involves careful observations of the child’s environment (physical and sequential) preceding (antecedent) and after (consequence) distress⁴.

This tool helps caregivers and healthcare professionals to learn about operant behaviour:

• Identifying a pattern of antecedents, consequences, or betting events that contribute to a specific ‘operant’ behaviour
• Differentiating possible functions of the behaviour
• Differentiating which behaviour are part of a response class
• Connecting specific antecedents that evoke different behaviour
• Understand how different people in the child’s life respond, and establishing a baseline of the behaviour before intervention

Antecedent Behaviour Consequence (ABC) Data Sheet >>>
Surrey Place ABC Chart >>>

Review Dr. Alvin Loh’s didactic presentation on “Special considerations for pain in children and youth with severe neurological impairment” for more information.

Functional Assessment Screening Tool (FAST)

Dr. Alvin Loh provided this tool during our Special Considerations for pain in children and youth with severe neurological impairment session.

Collaboration with caregivers is vital to the care of children and youth. This is especially true when managing behavioural issues in non-communicative children. The FAST should be completed by persons who interact with the child frequently. It is a 16-item questionnaire checklist designed to identify whether maladaptive behaviour is maintained via attention and tangibles, escape, sensory stimulation, or pain attenuation⁵.

Function Assessment Screening Tool >>>

Non-communicating Children’s Pain Checklist – Revised (NCCPC-R)

Similar to the FAST, the NCCPC-R provides a clinical approach to assessing pain for children with neurological impairment. There are 30 items on the behaviour checklist that can be scored a value of:

0 – Not at all

1 – Just a little

2 – Fairly often

3 – Very often.

These items include different behavioural domains such as vocal, social, facial, acitvity, body & limbs, physiological and eating/sleeping⁶.

Instructions for administration and scoring are available on the worksheet:

Non-communicating Children’s Pain Checklist – Revised (NCCPC-R) >>>

Post-operative version (NCCPC-PV) >>> 

Do you have more worksheet recommendations? Let us know by emailing us at project.echo@sickkids.ca or join us at our next session!

References

1. Dettmer, E. & Regina, A. (2020, July 16). Motivational Interviewing Practie Boosters (1 of 3). Paediatric Project ECHO. https://dev2.aboutkidshealth.ca/mi-practice-boosters-1-2/ 
2. Dettmer, E. & Regina, A. (2020, September 24). Motivational Interviewing Practie Boosters (2 of 3). Paediatric Project ECHO. https://dev2.aboutkidshealth.ca/mi-practice-boosters-2/
3. Dettmer, E. & Regina, A. (2020, November 12). Motivational Interviewing Practie Boosters (3 of 3). Paediatric Project ECHO. https://dev2.aboutkidshealth.ca/mi-practice-boosters-3/
4. Loh, A. (2020, November 3). Paediatric Project ECHO. Special considerations for pain in children and youth with neurological impairment. https://dev2.aboutkidshealth.ca/pain-in-children-with-neurological-impairment-2020pich/ 
5. LaRue R. (2013) Functional Assessment Screening Tool (FAST). In: Volkmar F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_1912
6. Breau LM, McGrath PJ, Camfield CS, Finley GA. Psychometric properties of the Non-Communicating Children’s Pain Checklist-Revised. Pain. 2002;99 (1-2):349-357