Module 4: Module 4 - Children’s rights in the wider environment: the role of the health worker

Introduction to Module 4

This is the fourth module in a course of five modules designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to children’s rights for health workers. While the modules can be studied separately, they are designed to build on each other in order.

Module 1: Childhood and children’s rights

Module 2: Children’s rights and the law

Module 3: Children’s rights in health practice

Module 4: Children’s rights in the wider environment: the role of the health worker

Module 5: Children’s rights: planning, monitoring and evaluation

Module 4 provides three study sessions for health care practitioners in relation to some of the broader issues in ensuring children’s rights in health care settings. Each of these sessions is designed to take approximately two hours to complete. The sessions provide you with an introduction to these topics and are supported by a range of different activities to help you develop your understanding and knowledge. The activities are usually followed by a discussion of the topic, but in some cases there will be answers at the end of the study session for you to compare with your own answer before continuing. We have provided you with space to write your notes after an activity, however if you wish, you can use a notebook.

  • Study Session 1 builds on your knowledge of health and the right to health as a very broad issue. Health is not just about individual health and medical treatment but is influenced by a wide range of factors in society such as poverty, bad housing, and lack of access to clean water. By the end of the session you will have a better understanding of these challenging factors, their impact on health, and how they relate to the role of the health worker.
  • Study Session 2 explains the important role of a person who listens to children and helps them express their views or argue for change. This role (called an advocate) and what they can do is discussed and explored. By the end of the session you will have an understanding of how health workers could and should be advocates for children’s rights.
  • Study Session 3 builds on your learning about being an advocate and explains how whole communities can be mobilised to take action on children’s rights. The session will explore how to identify issues in your community that are having a harmful effect on children’s health and how to mobilise the community to address the problem. You will learn about practical techniques and strategies and the role that children themselves can play.

1 Understanding the social determinants of health in the context of children’s rights