IMA-GO! Share with Care

18 December 2024
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During the Italian Palliative Care Society’s (SICP) annual congress, the Maruzza Foundation presented their guidebook for respectful digital communication involving children with serious or incurable illnesses entitled IMA-GO! A Guide for the Mindful Sharing of Images of Children with serious Illness.

The use of photographs and videos of children with serious chronic illnesses and disabilities is progressively becoming a common phenomenon on social media platforms. The images are regularly used by organizations in awareness and fundraising campaigns or by healthcare providers in a professional context for training and experience sharing purposes. We also increasingly see these images shared by parents (sharenting) to reach out and engage with others about their situation, to find support, to raise funds or to bring attention to an issue by stimulating awareness and understanding of certain conditions.

The IMA-GO document is the result of a collaboration between experts in the legal, social, medical, and communication fields aimed at addressing a critical topic: how to share images that raise public awareness or build support networks without compromising the dignity, rights, and privacy of the children portrayed.

IMA-GO is divided into three areas: parents/carers, healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations and institutions. For each area there is a list of ten ‘guidelines’ followed by a description of the issue examined, an example case and a checklist of essential questions that should be posed before sharing images of children on social media.

IMA-GO is not intended to be a set of rules but rather a practical tool and a source of reflection about the ethical use of images where the need to share pictures and experiences may conflict with the risks of objectifying the child or exposing their health status and personal information.

To learn more and access the IMA-GO Manual (currently only available in Italian), click here