This is the second of two OpenLearn courses focusing on the effective management of children’s pain. The focus of the first course was on why pain matters and how a pain management framework can be used to deliver the effective management of children’s pain. This second free course further develops how to improve children’s pain management in hospital, focusing on including parents/carers in the management of the pain.

The course presents the findings from a range of studies involving parent interviews on being included in their child’s pain care, as well as studies involving nurses, parents/carers and children and young people on their views of how children’s pain is managed. The challenges both parents and nurses encounter in managing children’s pain are discussed, focussing in particular on communication. The course includes three short animations conveying key messages on the management of children’s pain. The course concludes with suggestions that may help overcome these challenges between parents/carers and nurses to improve the management of children’s pain in hospital.

There is much discussion about the issue of children and young people’s mental health problems in the media, and we often hear this issue referred to as a ‘crisis’. But what does the evidence say? Are rates of mental health problems rising? In this course you will explore these important questions as well as delving into a case study of a young person with anxiety who is refusing to go to school, which is based on the real-life experiences of a service user of a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS).

The history of the sterilisation of women with learning disabilities is highly controversial and remains, to a large extent, a secret. Preventing intellectually disabled women from having children was actively canvassed across the Western world in the early 20th century as a solution to the ‘problem of mental deficiency’.

In some countries, dark, forbidding institutions enforced sterilisations and actively prevented social and sexual activity among residents. But as we hear in this moving programme presented by Liz Tilley from The Open University, the reasons behind decisions to sterilise these women were complex and sometimes unexpected.

This album takes an extensive look at the ins-and-outs of family life and caring for children. It draws on interviews with a wide-ranging selection of professionals, from people who deal directly with children at nurseries or schools to those that help shape national policy, to throw light on national initiatives and schemes such as ChildLine, and explore family life from different perspectives and social levels. This material forms part of The Open University course K204 Working with children and families.

Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charle And The Chocolate Factory is a perennial favourite, and has been the subject of two major film adaptations.

Dr John Oates, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning, asks why do children wake up so early on Christmas morning?
 

Introducing a documentary programme about a school in Africa.

This free course, Lottery of birth, will look at both the big picture of the ‘lottery of birth’ and the smaller, human stories. You will examine the inequalities of birth, particularly being born rich or poor and being born female or male.

This free course, The impact of technology on children's physical activity, explores the impact of technology on children’s physical activity levels. It examines the different types of technology that children have access to and the ways in which they engage with it. As part of this discussion this course looks at information from a range of different sources and evaluates this evidence to try and answer the question of whether technology is helping or hindering children’s physical activity levels.