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An intensive motor skills treatment program for children with cerebral palsy
Wende Oberg1, Barbara Grams, Judith Gooch
1Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Insights
The Intensive Motor Skills Program improved functional skills in children with cerebral palsy. Parents reported positive changes in their child's performance and satisfaction after the program.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Children with cerebral palsy often require specialized interventions to regain functional skills post-medical procedures.
- The Intensive Motor Skills Program was developed to provide a focused rehabilitation approach.
- A
- jumpstart
- approach was designed to accelerate skill acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development and evaluate the efficacy of the Intensive Motor Skills Program.
- To assess parent perceptions of their child's progress and satisfaction with the program.
- To analyze therapist-documented changes in skill acquisition and assistance levels.
Main Methods:
- Data collection involved parent interviews to establish desired outcomes.
- Parental ratings of performance and satisfaction were analyzed.
- Therapist-documented short-term objectives and parent satisfaction surveys provided additional data.
Main Results:
- Parents perceived significant positive changes in their children's performance on program goals.
- Parents reported increased satisfaction with their child's functional skill development.
- Therapists observed a decrease in the level of assistance required by children as the program progressed.
Conclusions:
- The Intensive Motor Skills Program is perceived as effective by parents in improving functional skills in children with cerebral palsy.
- The program demonstrates success in enhancing children's performance and reducing their reliance on therapist assistance.
- Parental involvement and satisfaction are key indicators of the program's positive outcomes.
Abstract:
This article describes the development and efficacy of the Intensive Motor Skills Program conducted at Primary Children's Medical Center. The program was designed for children with cerebral palsy who have undergone a medical procedure and were determined to need a "jumpstart" to gain functional skills. Data was collected from parent interviews that determine desired outcomes during the two-week program. Parent ratings of performance and satisfaction were then analyzed to determine parents' perceptions of the program. Information was also collected and analyzed from therapists' short-term objectives and parent satisfaction surveys. The results indicated that parents perceived positive changes in their children's performance on goals addressed during the program. Positive changes in parents' satisfaction with how their child performed on the defined goals were also noted. Therapists documented that children in the program required decreasing levels of assistance on short-term objectives as the program progressed.
