Differences between parents' and therapists' views of their child's adaptive seating system

Parents and therapists often have differing views as to the effectiveness, appearance and ease of use of individual children's adaptive seating systems. The purpose of this presentation is to present and discuss the results of a research project in which questionnaires were developed and administered to address this issue, and suggest some strategies for clinical practice. The subjects of the research were parents and therapists enrolled in a 6 month case controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of their adaptive seating system. Two similar questionnaires have been developed in order to explore the differences between the opinions of parents and therapist of children with cerebral palsy in relation to their individual seating systems. The questionnaires yield ordinal, categorical and qualitative data, and are divided into the areas of Ease of Use, Appearance, Seated Function and Comfort. The questionnaires were postal questionnaires administered prior to commencement of trial. The questionnaire results demonstrated important differences between parents and therapists views of the seating systems. Therapists concentrated on improving postural management, whilst parents were concerned with day-to-day management of the child, and adaptation to their environment. This presentation will take the form of an in-depth discussion of the results and suggestions to improve future practice.

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