Caregiver's experience of Rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy: A Qualitative Study

Published: 27 April 2022| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/hzzhnrtwxh.1
Contributors:
Riya Mukhija,

Description

The aim of the study was to explore the caregiver's experience of rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy. The hypothesis of the study was that caregivers had a major role in rehabilitation process and rehabilitation helps in improving the motor and social milestones of the child with cerebral palsy. It was a qualitative study in which in-depth face to face, semi structured interviews were taken from 11 caregivers of cerebral palsy from different rehabilitation centres. A questionnaire was deveoped by the prime reseacher in which questions regarding the rehabilitation experience, barriers and facilitators, social engagemnet were framed. The interview questions were based on a thorough review of literature. Participants who were caregiver of a child with cerebral palsy and who volunteered to participate in the study were included in this study. Participants who had communication problems were excluded. The interviews were audio recorded and were written in english & transcribed verbatim. The transcribed interviews were then entered into a QDA Miner Lite software for data analysis. The data analysis was done and various themes and sub themes were obtained from interview transcripts. Total 10 themes and 46 sub-themes were obtained. The themes were staff, overall experience, motor recovery, Barriers & facilitators in rehabilitation, cognitive and perceptual abilities, caregiver's burden, psychological effects, glimmer of hope, speech. The participants discussed their experiences with the interaction with the staff at rehabiltation centre. They told about the Motor recovery of the child which included Improvement in oromotor functions, improvement in motor milestones, improved activities of daily living, improved posture and prevention of secondary complications as a result of rehabilitation. These findings have an important role in clinical settings and rehabilitation of a child with cerebral palsy. The coded transcripts were also sent back to participants for member checking. On the basis of this study , it was concluded that caregivers had a major role in prognosis of the child.Also rehabilitation plays an important role in achieving the motor milestones in the children with cerebral palsy.

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Institutions

Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation

Categories

Rehabilitation, Cerebral Palsy, Caregiver, Qualitative Method

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