Physical Holding of Children Standards Are a Good Idea

• 7/28/2010
• Author: Janet Pimentel
• Category: The Source Blog
• 6716 Views
• 0 Comments
• 

Sometimes children with special needs can’t express themselves so they act out more aggressively than they should. As the aunt of a special needs child, I’ve seen my young nephew be physically held because there was concern that his head banging would harm himself. It’s never easy to see a family member--especially a child--physically held, but I understood that it was a way to help keep him safe. It’s for this reason that physical holding is a sensitive topic for me to discuss. As an aunt of a special needs child, I can appreciate that The Joint Commission has outlined 11 standards that specifically address the physical holding of children and youth as well as the philosophy that physical holding should be used as a last resort. These standards address every aspect of the situation--including assessment and reassessment, trying nonphysical techniques as a first response, the safety of the child, debriefing afterward, and collecting and monitoring data. If you haven’t seen them yet, these standards will be published in the 2010 Update 2 for the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Behavioral Health Care (CAMBHC) publishing in September. Behavioral health care organizations can also find a helpful article about how to comply with these physical holding of children and youth standards in the August 2010 issue of The Source. My goal was to provide some practical how-to suggestions that could help behavioral health care organizations consider what they needed to do in order to comply with these requirements, which go into effect January 1, 2011. Make sure to take advantage of the next six months to get prepared!

More resources for The Source: • Home • Current Issue • About • FAQ • Subscribe • Online Access • Contact