A recent article in the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis reports that physical therapy education was very stressful for parents of toddlers with cystic fibrosis. The parents reported "psychological distress" from PT education. There were three factors that influenced the parents education: large volumes of information, educational resources and timing of education. The researchers recommend specific development of educational resources for parents.
Although this article only pertains to toddlers with cystic fibrosis, therapists should keep in mind the amount of information that we offer to parents during treatment sessions or consultations. Is the information clear and easy to understand? Can the recommendations be carried out during the course of a regular day? Is there so much information that the parents is under "distress"?
Reference: Claire J. Tipping, Rebecca L. Scholes, Narelle S. Coxb. A qualitative study of physiotherapy education for parents of toddlers with cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 205-211 (May 2010)
2 comments:
A good reminder to PTs, Margaret. Parent education can be broken-into parts, but this might be limited by insurance controls on number of visits.
The problem expressed in this study seems to be a lack of 'team' work among providers. I would be surprised that all the education falls to the PT. Unless perhaps as toddlers the RT and nurse are not yet involved. If the parents are distressed, I doubt that the source is solely education by the PT.
Barbara
I agree with your statement regarding a lack of team work. This study only looked at physical therapy education therefore, parents could have been misappropriately placing blame only on PT.
It is my personal opinion, that any therapy provider (not just PT's) can easily bombard parents with too much information especially during the early years. Perhaps I should not say too much information but too many requests and requirements. The intentions of therapy providers are usually good but they do not always consider what it is like to be the parents of a child with special needs when the therapists leave the home or school.
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