Participation According to Clinicians Working with Young Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Long Way to Go

Author(s): Marieke Coussens [sup.1] , Jeroen Maes [sup.1] , Annemie Desoete [sup.2] , Guy Vanderstraeten [sup.1] , Hilde Van Waelvelde [sup.1] , Dominique Van de Velde [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]
Participation has become an important measure of outcome in child rehabilitation as young children with developmental disabilities are increasingly at risk of decreased participation. Therefore, this study garnered information on clinicians' perspectives regarding perceived facilitators and barriers when rendering participation-based interventions using a qualitative research design. Semi-structured interviews of clinicians (Ns = 12, 25-57 years) were conducted and evaluated via an inductive thematic analysis. Results denote that current mechanisms of providing participation-based interventions resembled traditionally focused interventions; thus, resulting in a knowledge-to-practice gap. Clinicians desired more opportunities to communicate with caregivers and to be able to influence the children' s natural environments. They also identified shortness of time, resources, and rigid health care regulations as barriers hampering the efficacy of participation-based services.