Peer-reviewed article
Nurturing care practices for children with developmental disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review protocol
Silas Onyango, Margaret Nampijja, Paul Otwate, Nelson Langat, Linda Oloo et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a protocol for a scoping review that will examine nurturing care practices for children with neurodevelopmental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa. The review will search published literature from 2018 to 2023 across multiple databases to identify existing care strategies, gaps in provision, and caregiver experiences. The study aims to generate evidence to help policymakers improve care quality and address unmet needs of these children and their families.
Key points
- The majority of children with neurodevelopmental disorders live in low- and middle-income countries, including sub-Saharan Africa
- Little information currently exists on strategies to support children with neurodevelopmental disorders using the Nurturing Care Framework in SSA countries
- The review will identify gaps in nurturing care provision, key drivers of care, and caregiver experiences
- Electronic databases to be searched include PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Open Grey and African Journals Online
- Findings will include recommendations for interventions to improve care quality for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Limitations
This is a protocol document describing a planned review, not the results of the review itself. Therefore, it cannot provide findings about what nurturing care practices actually exist, what gaps have been identified, or what evidence supports particular interventions.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The majority of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). NDDs are a public health concern in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Nurturing care has been recommended as a pathway for addressing the developmental needs and unlocking the full potential of children, including those with NDDs. However, little information exists on the strategies to support children with NDDs using the Nurturing Care Framework in many countries in SSA. This review aims to synthesize information on nurturing care practices for children with NDDs in SSA. The review will also determine gaps in the provision of nurturing care for children with NDDs. Further, the review will highlight the drivers of care as well as the experiences of the caregivers. METHODS: The review will be implemented in six steps: specification of the research question, identification of relevant studies, selection of studies to be included, extracting, mapping, and charting the data, collating, summarizing, and reporting the results, and stakeholder consultation. We propose a database search followed by a manual search for the literature synthesis. We will search the following electronic databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Open Grey and African Journals Online (AJOL). All studies published after May 2018 to May 2023 that include relevant terms will be identified and included. The research team will develop a data extraction form for use in capturing relevant information from each of the included studies. A patterning chart that will summarize and analyze the key findings of each article will be created. DISCUSSION: We anticipate that the study will provide evidence on the existing nurturing care practices and unearth gaps in the provision of nurturing care for children with NDDs. Key determinants of care and the experiences of the parents/caregivers of children will also be identified. The study will provide key recommendations on interventions to improve the quality of care for children with NDDs. Through this study, awareness of the unmet nurturing care needs of these children will be increased. The evidence generated may assist policymakers and stakeholders in addressing the needs of children with NDDs.