Service Providers’ Perspectives on Using the ‘F-Words in Childhood Disability’: An International Survey

Exploring 10 years of dissemination of the F‐words for Child Development: A multifaceted case study

“…The ICF expands our focus beyond “body structure and function” and emphasizes other important factors, including people's “activities,” “participation,” “personal factors,” and “environments” (WHO, 2001). While researchers have written about the positive implications of these changes at the family, clinical, and organizational levels (Graham et al, 2019; King et al, 2017; McManus et al, 2020; Rosenbaum et al, 2014) a knowledge‐to‐action gap persists, with traditional professional‐led biomedical approaches still informing thinking and practices (Anaby & Pozniak, 2019; Soper et al, 2020a).…”

Childhood disability: can people implement the F-words in low and middle-income countries – and how?

“…Belize, Philippines, and Puerto Rico) have approved the use of 'F-words' as good practice, they have reported challenges in implementing them in clinical settings. 8 The reported potential barriers were: (1) the strong focus of stakeholders on the biomedical approaches (''fixing the child''); (2) limited resources to support the 'F-words' implementation, especially access to health care systems and financial limitations in LMICs; and (3) the meaningful translation and cultural adaptation of the 'F-words' in other languages. These findings highlight the challenges of transferring the 'F-words' knowledge for use in LMICs.…”

“…A diversity of strategies have been reported by studies in LMICs that could be used to increase 'F-words' KT 8,20 :…”

“…(3) distribute materials for tailored implementation (e.g., posters, manuals, videos, and photographs); (4) involve local partners (e.g., health professionals, parents, and community members); (5) disseminate materials on-line and publicly (e.g., awareness-raising activities, health kiosks at public events, home visits, educational messages transmit-ted through the media and social networks, distributions of T-shirts, and scientific communications; (6) do educational outreach and meetings (e.g., workshops and discussion forums); (7) create artistic performances and games (e.g., theater, dance); and (8) promote policy dialogs and disseminate the policy briefs with strategies for implementing the 'F-words' in clinical setting. 8,20 The Instituto Nossa Casa, a non-governmental institute in Brazil, has been a pioneer in Latin America because they have been translating the 'Fwords' content to Portuguese, sharing the new concepts of disability management with stakeholders, and developing knowledge translation tools for parents and therapists. 17 Finally, to overcome the limited use of the 'F-words' in clinical settings, these 21st century ideas need to flourish across stakeholders.…”

“…Thus, the advocates and agents of the 'F-words' from LMICs are called upon to become 'knowledge-broker agents,' adapting new knowledge to the local context, assessing potential barriers, and identifying supports that can be used. 8,21 We still have a long road to travel in LMICs to implement the 'F-words' into practice, but the first steps have been made. As we know things can change, let us continue on this path.…”