Adolescent confidentiality: Understanding and practices of health care providers.

Background: Adolescent confidentiality may present practice challenges for health care providers related to family, medical, ethical, legal, social and bureaucratic processes. It is unclear how health care providers understand and practice confidentiality with adolescents in Canada.

Objective: To investigate the knowledge and practice of health care providers at Alberta Children's Hospital (Calgary, Alberta), and to inform practice about the adolescent's right to confidentiality.