A study into the effectiveness of a postural care training programme aimed at improving knowledge, understanding and confidence in parents and school staff

Abstract

Results suggest improvement in knowledge, understanding and confidence in parents and school staff that care for children with significant physical postural care impairments.

Therapy interventions for children with neurodisabilities: a qualitative scoping study

“…Linked to this, we would note a recently completed NIHR study within the Research for Patient Benefit programme, which evaluated training school staff (and parents) in postural care. 47 In the remainder of this chapter, we return to the study objectives, reporting for each the key findings and broad conclusions that can be drawn. 1. to identify and describe current techniques, practices and approaches to delivering therapy interventions for children with non-progressive neurodisability that seek to improve participation as defined by the ICF 2. to describe therapeutic approaches identified by professionals as promising or innovative but not currently (routinely) delivered by the NHS.…”

“…[48][49][50][51] Notions of feeling overburdened by the requirements of a therapy regime, and a lack of ongoing training and support, have also been reported. 52 In terms of work within the existing NIHR portfolio, a study 47 funded as part of the Research for Patient Benefit programme has been recently published, which evaluated a training intervention for parents and school staff on postural management. Different models for organising therapy provision were reported, and alternatives to the traditional model of 'unitherapy' teams were presented.…”

Current clinical practice in 24-hour postural management and the impact on carers and service users with severe neurodisability

“…Providing support and training is an integral and fundamental element of 24-hour postural management (Castles et al, 2014;Hotham et al, 2017;Humphreys and Pountney, 2006;Maher et al, 2011), and the current survey found that this was the area wherein occupational therapists felt most skilled. In contrast, the service users and carers found that the training and support they received was inadequate, especially lack of support for night-time positioning.…”

“…This is the first study to examine both carers’ and service users’ experiences of 24-hour postural management as a whole using focus group methodology. Previous studies have addressed certain elements, such as standing frames, and have focused solely on conditions such as cerebral palsy (Goodwin et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2019), while others have addressed the views of parents, teachers and therapists (Hotham et al., 2017; Hutton and Coxon, 2011; McDonald et al., 2007; Maher et al., 2011; Nicolson et al., 2012).…”

“…Although the evidence base for 24-hour postural management continues to grow (Hotham et al., 2017; Meyling et al., 2018; Picciolini et al., 2016; Stephens et al., 2018), not enough is known about current practices in its use and its actual impact on the everyday life of individuals and carers (Nicolson et al., 2012; Robertson et al., 2016). Indeed, there has been acknowledgement of this important gap in evidence and a subsequent shift towards use of qualitative and/or mixed methodologies (Goodwin et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2019; Hotham et al., 2017). The current study was therefore designed to address this gap.…”