The Early Movers Clinician's Guide: Co-Designing a Resource for the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines in Paediatric...

Balancing physical activity, sedentary time and sleep is important for the well-being of preschoolers (3-4 years) with disabilities. Occupational Therapists (OTs) are important disseminators of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years but require a resource for clinical implementation. This study aimed to co-design and assess the content validity of such a resource.

Using the Framework for Co-design of Clinical Tools, five workshops were conducted with an advisory council of OTs (n = 9) and caregivers of children with disabilities (n = 5) to co-design the resource. Researchers (n = 6) consulted on the scientific integrity of the resource. Thematic analysis was used to summarize workshop data for the co-design process and examine content validity.

The Early Movers Clinician's Guide, an open access resource to support OTs in using the guidelines was created. Themes reflected within the co-design process included the importance of a person-centred approach, meaningful measurement and context-driven information sharing. Participants reported positive perceptions of the resource's content validity, supporting its potential for clinical application.

The Early Movers Clinician's Guide was co-designed to support OTs in translating the guidelines into practice with preschoolers with disabilities. Future research will evaluate broader implementation.