Evaluation report
Improving the Safety and Quality of Care for Children and Young People With Intellectual and Developmental Disability. The Motivated for Change Programme in a Paediatric Emergency Department Setting. A Mixed Methods Study.
Ong N, Zadeh SG, Zieba J, Pobre K, Tomsic G et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluates a staff training programme called Motivated for Change, designed to improve emergency department care for children and young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The programme uses behavioural change, adult learning, and quality improvement strategies to help healthcare staff provide better adjusted care in busy hospital settings. Surveys of 131 and 89 staff members, interviews with parents, and observations before and after the intervention showed that the programme increased staff knowledge, skills, and confidence. Staff became motivated to develop ongoing training and quality improvement projects to sustain improvements.
Key points
- Children and young people with intellectual and developmental disability face inequities in accessing safe and quality healthcare, particularly in overstimulating emergency department environments
- The Motivated for Change programme demonstrated significant increases in staff knowledge, skills, and experience in providing safe and quality care
- Evidence of change was reflected in themes from parent interviews, staff interviews, and observational studies in pre- and post-intervention phases
- Staff were motivated to develop in-house training programmes for new staff and undertake quality improvement projects
- Local champions emerged to support sustained efforts for ongoing improvements in safety and quality of care
Limitations
The document does not specify which country or hospital setting this evaluation took place in, nor does it provide detailed baseline and outcome measurements, effect sizes, or statistical significance. Parent involvement was limited to advisory input rather than full participation in study conduct and data interpretation.
Abstract
Background Children and young people with intellectual and developmental disability have long been known to suffer from inequities in accessing safe and quality health care. These challenges are most felt within the emergency department due to its busy, crowded, and overstimulating environments with staff that are not trained to provide reasonably adjusted care. Aims The study is an evaluation using qualitative and quantitative methods of a continuing education and quality improvement programme designed to increase the knowledge, skills, and confidence of healthcare staff in providing reasonable adjustments to children and young people with intellectual disability in hospitals. Methods This study evaluated the Motivated for Change programme, which uses Behavioural change, Adult Learning, and Quality Improvement strategies to drive practice change and service improvement. A hundred and thirty-one and 89 staff participated in a pre- and post-intervention survey. Interviews were conducted with parents of children and young people with intellectual and developmental disability attending the emergency department. Observational studies were also conducted in the pre- and post-intervention phase. These were transcribed, categorised, and coded with themes derived. Consensus was reached through meetings with the research team. Results The Motivated for Change programme has demonstrated significant increases in staff knowledge, skills, and experience in providing safe and quality care for these children and young people. Evidence of change is reflected in the parent and staff interview and observational study themes. In addition, staff were further motivated to undertake quality improvement projects, develop an in-house training programme to provide ongoing training for new staff, and make further improvements in the department. Conclusions The Motivated for Change programme has demonstrated its efficacy in enabling changes in the practice of reasonable adjustments and the emergence of local champions for sustained efforts for ongoing improvements in safety and quality of care. Patient and public involvement The development of the research question and outcome measures was informed by data from previous research publications involving parents and staff. We sought input from a parent advisory committee in the design of the study. Parents were not involved in the recruitment and conduct of the study. Results were presented to the parent advisory at the end of the study.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Motivated for Change programme: a continuing education and quality improvement programme using behavioural change, adult learning, and quality improvement strategies to increase staff knowledge, skills, and confidence in providing reasonable adjustments
- Population
- Healthcare staff in a paediatric emergency department (131 staff in pre-survey, 89 in post-survey) and parents of children and young people with intellectual and developmental disability
Key finding
Significant increases in staff knowledge, skills, and experience in providing safe and quality care for children with intellectual and developmental disability