Peer-reviewed article
ENVISAGE-service providers: creating opportunities to change how service providers think, talk about, and approach childhood disability through professional development. A qualitative study.
Britt K, Hughes D, O'Connor B, Babic R, Phoenix M et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explored how a professional development program called ENVISAGE-Service Providers changed health professionals' approaches to childhood disability. The program taught evidence-based, family-centred methods to 27 health workers in Australia and Canada. Participants reported that the program provided scaffolding that built on their existing skills and increased their confidence to translate family-centred principles into their daily practice. The study used interviews and thematic analysis to understand the program's impact.
Key points
- 27 health professionals from Australia and Canada participated in semi-structured interviews after completing ENVISAGE-Service Providers
- Participants described gaining knowledge, improved attitudes, and enhanced skills in family-centred approaches to childhood disability
- The program was described as providing 'scaffolding' that helped participants build on their existing foundations in family-centred service
- Active ingredients included connections between ways of thinking and doing, and bridges between providers and families
- Participants reported increased confidence and ability to translate family-centred principles into practice
Limitations
This is a qualitative study based on self-reported experiences after program completion, with no comparison group or measurement of actual practice changes. The study does not measure whether changes in provider attitudes and confidence translate into improved outcomes for children with disabilities.
Abstract
Purpose The aim of this qualitative study was to explore service providers' experiences with, and the impact of, ENVISAGE-Service Providers, a professional development program aiming to increase participants' knowledge of, attitudes towards, and skills to apply contemporary evidence-informed, family-centred approaches in childhood-onset disability. Methods Participants in ENVISAGE-Service Providers were health professionals working with children with disability. Online semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 27 purposively selected consenting participants from Australia and Canada on program completion. A reflexive thematic analysis approach guided data analysis. Results A thematic metaphor of constructing family-centred approaches described the program's impact. Four Themes described how [1] participants come with their own foundations for family-centred service (FCS) [2]; ENVISAGE-SP provides scaffolding for FCS, describing the programs' active ingredients [3], participants build what they need to support FCS, and [4] ENVISAGE-SP can support building a family-centred ecosystem. Constructions included connections between ways of thinking and doing; bridges between providers and families; and plans for future construction as ENVISAGE ideas translate into practice. Conclusions Participants described the program's active ingredients as providing the scaffold that supported them to build on their existing foundations in FCS in ways that enhanced their confidence and ability to translate family-centred principles in practice.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- ENVISAGE-Service Providers professional development program teaching family-centred, evidence-informed approaches to childhood disability
- Population
- 27 health professionals working with children with disability from Australia and Canada
Key finding
Participants reported the program provided scaffolding that supported them to build on existing foundations in family-centred service