Communication and Relational Aspects in Healthcare Professionals Caring for Pediatric and Adolescent Patients with Congenital Heart Disease and Their Families

Having a cardiac illness means not only to be affected in a vital organ, but also in the vital center of energy itself. The heart has long been used as a symbol. The plurality of meanings is well known to those involved in treating people with heart disease, especially when the condition is chronic. Caring professionals have the task of redesigning the complexity of meanings within a unique story, involving one specific person, a specific family background, a specific emotional, social and economic context. When dealing with children, establishing a relationship with the patient means maintaining the relationship channel open with both the patients and their parents, in order to enable them to get to know the children’s condition, take an active role in reformulating children’s identity and gradually develop useful skills. In this chapter, some areas of particular interest such as those related to communication, diagnosis and compliance are tackled. Placing the subjectivity – both the patient’s and the parents’ - as central theme, the following issues emerge: the diagnosis in the perinatal phase and how children or teenagers, having different needs and skills at different stages of their life, can be aware of their treatment and life. In line with this, the non-technical skills operators are required to have are explored, including emotional stability and the ability to act in a way which is understandable to others so as to enable them to consciously participate in the treatment process.