Family involvement in multidisciplinary team evaluation: professional and parent perspectives

This study describes a process for multidisciplinary assessment of children having deficits in attention, motor activity and perception (DAMP) with an evaluation of that process based on the opinions of parents, teachers and team members. The process named the 'ANSER model' consists of six steps (I to VI) conducted over a 2-month period and a follow-up 2 years later (step VII). Parents and teachers are fully involved early in the process and their participation is considered essential for a good result. Particular consideration is given to directly helping a child understand him/herself and become aware of his/her own difficulties. Strategies to overcome those difficulties are developed together with the child, the parents and the teacher. A specific aspect of the assessment is the aim to provide therapy through discussion of the questions, thoughts and feelings evoked during, and by the process. The expectations of parents and teachers regarding the assessment, and their completion of six steps of the process were ascertained from questionnaires. A large majority of both parents and teachers had high expectations of the assessment. Slightly more parents than teachers were convinced of its necessity. Their expectations were satisfied. Parents, teachers and team members emphasized the importance of the participation of parents and teachers in the process. The average time required for a complete assessment according to the process and including the work of all the specialists was 33 hours.

Section: Anser — the Seven Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multidisciplinary assessment of children with deficits relating to attention, motor activity and perception: evaluation of the ANSER model

Isberg

Kjellman

1999

“…In several countries, legislative and policy requirements impose collaboration between professionals, between agencies, and between agencies and service users (British Department of Health 1999; Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 [Public Law 99–457]; RBU, FUB & RFA 1993; Americans with Disabilities Act [Public Law 101–336]). This has led to various concepts of multidisciplinary collaboration, which have since been implemented and evaluated nationally (Simeonsson et al . 1995; Stallard & Hutchison 1995; Youngson‐Reilly et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards integrated paediatric services in the Netherlands: a survey of views and policies on collaboration in the care for children with cerebral palsy

Nijhuis

Reinders-Messelink

Blécourt

et al. 2007

Collaboration between rehabilitation and education professionals and parents is supported and encouraged nationwide. Views on collaboration have been formulated, and general guidelines on family-centred and co-ordinated care are available. Yet, collaborative practices in Dutch paediatric care are still developing. Protocols that carefully delineate the commitments to collaborate and that translate the policies into practical, detailed guidelines are needed, as they are a prerequisite for successful teamwork.

“…This may occur because the time of diagnosis is stressful and parents find it difficult to comprehend the complexity of their child's disabilities and process large numbers of recommendations. Documentation of parent understanding and perception of developmental assessment may facilitate family involvement in intervention programmes and treatment compliance (Simeonsson et al . 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six month follow‐up: the crucial test of multidisciplinary developmental assessment

Glaun

Cole

Reddihough

1998

Participation of parents in the developmental assessment process is thought to be beneficial in promoting understanding of their child's disability, and improving consensus between parents and professionals about appropriate intervention programmes. If costly multidisciplinary assessments are to be justified, it is necessary to establish long-term benefits for the child. This highlights a need for research identifying how families use services after diagnostic assessment and what they understand to be important for their child. Poor parent-professional agreement about diagnosis may be a factor contributing to low compliance with recommendations. The major purpose of the current study was to follow-up families 6 months after developmental assessment, in order to investigate use of recommended intervention services. In addition, mothers' opinions about diagnostic findings, recommendations and early intervention services were examined. Subjects were 40 pre-school children who presented for developmental assessment, and their mothers. The majority were diagnosed with developmental problems in multiple domains. Results indicated that most mothers recalled and agreed with their child's diagnosis, but underestimated the severity of developmental delay. Families had not accessed the range of multidisciplinary intervention programmes recommended, given the complexity of their children's disabilities. Speech therapy was considered the service of highest priority by mothers, and was the treatment most frequently received. Mothers recognized a need for more therapeutic interventions for their child. An unexpected finding was the high prevalence of families who organized nonprescribed therapies. Possible explanations of the findings and implications for service delivery are discussed.