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Parental perspectives on the changes in their child's participation in physical activities after a highly intensive
Silke Velghe1, Ingrid Van der Veer1,2, Marieke Coussens3
1Rehabilitation Research Centre - REVAL, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Insights
A focused balance intervention empowered children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and their parents, leading to sustained improvements in physical activity participation and family dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Child Psychology
- Occupational Therapy
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) impacts children's motor skills, mental health, and family life.
- Limited understanding exists on how motor interventions affect physical activity participation in children with DCD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore parental perspectives on children's physical activity participation after an intensive balance intervention for DCD.
- To investigate how intervention features influence sustained participation changes.
Main Methods:
- Sequential multimethod qualitative study involving questionnaires and focus groups with parents of children with DCD.
- Thematic analysis used to examine changes in participation and related factors.
- Intervention involved a highly intensive one-week (40-hour) group balance program.
Main Results:
- Parents reported enhanced child empowerment, increased participation in physical activities, and improved family dynamics.
- Sustained changes in participation were linked to child empowerment, parent support, and improved communication.
- Specific intervention features like individual therapist attention and high therapy volume were key.
Conclusions:
- Intensive group-based balance training can lead to sustained improvements in physical activity participation for children with DCD.
- Empowering both children and caregivers is crucial for long-term participation changes.
- Therapeutic approaches should integrate motor skill development with caregiver involvement.
Background:
Children with Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) experience challenges that extend beyond the motor domain, impacting their mental health and participation but also their parents and families. Currently, little is known about how motor intervention affects participation in physical activities in children with DCD.
Methods:
This sequential multimethod qualitative study explored parental perspectives on their child's participation following a highly intensive one-week (40-hour) group intervention focusing on balance performance in school-aged children with DCD. In Phase 1, post-intervention changes in participation in physical activities were examined using open-ended questionnaires in a first cohort of parents. In Phase 2, focus groups with a second cohort of parents further explored the changes of Phase 1 and investigated how these were interrelated. Thematic analysis was applied in both phases.
Results:
Parents (Phase 1: 22; Phase 2: 14) reported improvements in their child's participation, family dynamics and social interactions. Key themes included increased child empowerment, increased participation involvement through self-initiated actions, parent-centered support, and the fact that the empowerment of both parents and child potentially induced sustained changes in their child's participation in physical activities after three months. Specific interventional features (individual therapist, accessible environment, and high amount of therapy time) empowered the child, initiating greater participation involvement through self-initiated actions. These changes were sustained through enhanced parental understanding of DCD and improved communication with their child and members of their environment (e.g., teachers), leading to shifts in parental behavior and sustained changes in daily routines.
Conclusion:
This highly intensive group-based functional balance training resulted in sustained improvements in child participation in physical activities after three months potentially due to empowering both the child and their parents. These findings highlight the importance of addressing not only motor performances of the child with DCD but also involve caregivers in therapeutic processes to attain sustained changes.