Purpose: Parents’ attendance, participation and engagement are thought to be critical components of children’s rehabilitation services; however, these elements of therapy are typically under-investigated. The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory of parents’ attendance, participation and engagement in children’s rehabilitation services.Methods: A constructivist grounded theory study was conducted. Data collection included interviews with parents (n = 20) and clinicians (n = 4), policies regarding discharge, and child-health records. Data was analyzed using constant comparison, coding and memoing. To promote credibility, authors engaged in reflexivity, peer debriefing, member checking, triangulation and recorded an audit trail.Results and conclusions: The Phoenix Theory of Attendance, Participation and Engagement was developed. This theory is described metaphorically as a journey to child health and happiness that has six components including: parent’s feelings, skills, knowledge, logistics, values and beliefs and parent’s relationship with the professional. The child, parent, service provider, and organizational factors that impact engagement are described. Service providers, policy makers, organizational leaders and researchers can use this information to promote engagement in children’s developmental rehabilitation services.
Michelle P Phoenix, Susan Michelle Jack, Peter Rosenbaum et al.
This research used proxy reports and questionnaire-based data to explore characteristics related to participation among autistic children. The research aimed to explore child enjoyment and parental satisfaction in different activity configurations, including active and sedentary pursuits and activities in which children participate alone or in groups. Parents/guardians (n = 100) of autistic children aged 4–15 years completed questionnaire-based assessments of their autistic child’s motor skills, social skills, and characteristics of participation. Regression analyses were completed to elucidate the factors that may contribute to a child’s enjoyment of and parental satisfaction with the child’s participation in the different activity configurations. A strong positive correlation was found between motor and social skills, and for motor and social skills in concert with the different activity configurations. Regression analyses found that the social skills of autistic children were related to participation in most of the activity configurations for both the child’s enjoyment and parental satisfaction in participation. Other results indicated that lower social skills were more strongly related to child enjoyment and parental satisfaction, and that the highest enjoyment and satisfaction scores were found for the sedentary and individual activities. These results reinforce the impact of social skills on participation in various activities, and the need for early intervention to promote skill development among autistic children.
Danielle Salters, Samiya Sheiknur, Sara M. Scharoun Benson
This conceptual work presents an Interprofessional Relational Participation Framework integrating counseling and occupational therapy perspectives in community mental health. Grounded in attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and strength-based parenting principles, the framework links reflective caregiver integration with occupation-centered enactment through play, routines, and social participation. A community-based parent-child program is presented as a practice illustration demonstrating feasibility within a university-community partnership. Counseling contributions emphasize relational reflection and meaning making, whereas occupational therapy operationalizes relational principles within everyday occupations. Implications for interprofessional collaboration, community accessibility, occupational therapy, and mental health practices are discussed.
Power soccer presents opportunities for young athletes who use power wheelchairs to experience competitive team sports. As the focus of rehabilitation is to enhance participation and quality of life, insight into the subjective experience of sport participation could broaden considerations for power wheelchair prescription and inform how therapists share information about community sports and other activities with families.Purpose To provide insight into the experiences of power soccer players and their parents to inform rehabilitation practice.Methods Primary data for this Interpretive Description study were individual interviews with five power soccer athletes, ranging from 11 to 17 years of age, and three parents of power soccer players. Observational field notes were also used.Results Five inter-related themes were developed: 1) Level playing field, 2) I am an athlete, 3) Important “life lessons” are gained through team sports, 4) The value of belonging to a community, and 5) Role of the rehabilitation community in supporting power mobility sports.Conclusions Findings of this study demonstrate the benefits and challenges of power sport participation. The results encourage therapists to share information about sport opportunities with families and to consider a broad range of contexts when assessing for power mobility.
Elaine Bragg, Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, Shanon Phelan et al.
Background: The objective of this descriptive study was to study parents’ experiences of raising a child with sensorimotor impairments and how leisure pursuits impact their expectations of their children. The development and participation in leisure activities is different for these children and could affect the parents’ hopes and dreams for their child’s future. Method: Six children between 5 and 8 years of age, with sensorimotor impairments, participated in a movement program that was held for eight sessions at an outpatient pediatric clinic to address praxis and sensory processing impairments. Six parent dyads were interviewed during the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth session of the program. Areas addressed in the semi-structured interviews included parenting challenges, school experiences, and sensorimotor impairments effect on the child’s leisure participation. Results: Five themes emerged following the interviews: (a) nobody prepares you for sensory problems, (b) positive and negative school support, (c) when they already feel left out or behind, (d) I know the team sports are 100% sensory, and (e) life challenges. Conclusion: The parents provided the practitioners with insight into their everyday lives, and this information is essential for making occupational therapy services more family-centered.
Emily A. Eicher, Camille Skubik-Peplaski, Shirley Peganoff O’Brien et al.
This cross-sectional analysis of the Minnesota Now Everybody Together for Amazing Healthful Kids (NET-Works) study evaluated whether SNAP participation was associated with specific parental feeding styles and child eating behaviors. Associations between parent-reported feeding styles and child eating behaviors and SNAP participation were examined using multiple linear regression analyses and responses from 534 parent/child dyads (49.1% female children, 91.7% female parents). SNAP participation was not associated with specific feeding styles or child eating behaviors when adjusting for food insecurity, timing in SNAP cycle, and other covariates in this large, ethnically and racially diverse sample of predominantly mothers and preschool-aged children. Other factors, such as food insecurity, not SNAP participation, may influence parental feeding and child eating behaviors, and screening by health care providers is recommended.
Megan O. Bensignor, REBECCA L. FREESE, Nancy E. Sherwood et al.
This cross-sectional study aims to establish the pre–COVID-19 pandemic baseline of toddler and child dietary intakes by status of participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Meghan C. Zimmer, Jiada James Zhan, Cristina M. Gago et al.
BACKGROUND: Current knowledge about parental reasons for allowing child participation in research comes mainly from clinical trials. Fewer data exist on parents' motivations to enrol children in observational studies. OBJECTIVES: Describe reasons parents of preschoolers gave for participating in the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED), a US multi-site study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays or disorders (DD), and explore reasons given by child diagnostic and behavioural characteristics at enrolment. METHODS: We included families of children, age 2-5 years, participating in SEED (n = 5696) during 2007-2016. We assigned children to groups based on characteristics at enrolment: previously diagnosed ASD; suspected ASD; non-ASD DD; and population controls (POP). During a study interview, we asked parents their reasons for participating. Two coders independently coded responses and resolved discrepancies via consensus. We fit binary mixed-effects models to evaluate associations of each reason with group and demographics, using POP as reference. RESULTS: Participants gave 1-5 reasons for participation (mean = 1.7, SD = 0.7). Altruism (48.3%), ASD research interest (47.4%) and perceived personal benefit (26.9%) were most common. Two novel reasons were knowing someone outside the household with the study conditions (peripheral relationship; 14.1%) and desire to contribute to a specified result (1.4%). Odds of reporting interest in ASD research were higher among diagnosed ASD participants (odds ratio [OR] 2.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.49-3.35). Perceived personal benefit had higher odds among diagnosed (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.61-2.29) or suspected ASD (OR 3.67, 95% CI 2.99-4.50) and non-ASD DD (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.50-2.16) participants. Peripheral relationship with ASD/DD had lower odds among all case groups. CONCLUSIONS: We identified meaningful differences between groups in parent-reported reasons for participation. Differences demonstrate an opportunity for future studies to tailor recruitment materials and increase the perceived benefit for specific prospective participants.
Chyrise Bradley, Amanda L. Tapia, Carolyn G DiGuiseppi et al.
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federally-regulated, state-administered program that reimburses early care and education (ECE) programs for serving nutritional meals to low-income children. CACFP participation is voluntary and varies among states. This study explored barriers and facilitators of ECE participation in CACFP, and identified strategies to promote participation by eligible programs. A mixed-methods study of 4 states with varying levels of ECE participation in CACFP. Stakeholders from 22 CACFP-associated agencies, representatives of 17 sponsor organizations, and 40 center-based ECE program directors were interviewed; 100 ECE directors completed surveys. In total, 66% of the ECE programs were in CACFP. Key barriers to CACFP participation included cumbersome enrollment and reimbursement paperwork, strict eligibility requirements, concerns about non-compliance penalties, strict meal patterns, low-reimbursement levels, and lack of on-site cooking facilities. Facilitators identified by participants were the outreach and technical assistance provided by stakeholders and sponsors, paperwork organizational systems established by sponsors, and trainings and nutrition education provided by stakeholders and sponsors. From the surveys, directors reported it was helpful that CACFP covered the cost of food (87%), served healthy meals (78%), provided meals to at-risk children (49%), kept tuition low (38%), and helped them serve a variety of foods (26%). Nearly all directors agreed that CACFP was “very important/important” to their program (94%), and would recommend CACFP to others (94%). Suggested strategies to promote CACFP participation focused on paperwork reduction, modification to eligibility requirements, increased reimbursement rate, leniency with unintentional non-compliance errors, and outreach/provision of additional technical assistance to ECE programs. CACFP confers critical nutritional benefits, but key barriers can impact program participation. Policy changes are needed at the federal and/or state levels to address these barriers. Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF); and the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington.
Bethany Jana, Kaitlyn Loefstedt, Maihan B. Vu et al.
Within child and youth care (CYC) education, supporting and implementing the rights of children and youth requires more than simple identification of these rights. It is also vital to explore issues such as how young people’s rights to participation and protection influence CYC education, and how to constructively move forward with child and youth participation in CYC college curricula. In 2018, a small study was conducted in the Canadian province of Ontario, guided by child and youth advisory committees, with data collection involving young people, CYC educators and practitioners. The findings verified that young people can play valuable roles in supporting the understandings and learnings of emerging CYC practitioners. Child and youth participation is an important but generally unappreciated element of CYC education and its role in advancing children’s rights to protection.
Tara M. Collins, Lindsay D. Sinclair, Vanessa E. Zufelt
