A study in to the effectiveness of a postural care training programme aimed at improving knowledge, understanding, and confidence in parents and school staff

Background: Parents and school staff lack knowledge and confidence when providing postural care to physically disabled children. This can act as a barrier to the successful implementation of therapy. To address this problem, we developed a novel training programme to improve knowledge and confidence in providing postural care and evaluate the impact of the training programme in parents and school staff.

Methods: The postural care training programme included three elements: a 2-h interactive workshop facilitated by physiotherapists and occupational therapists, a follow-up home/school visit and a follow-up telephone call. The Understanding, Knowledge and Confidence in Providing Postural Care for Children with Disabilities questionnaire was utilized to evaluate the impact and includes subscales assessing knowledge and understanding, concerns and confidence in providing postural care. The Understanding, Knowledge and Confidence in Providing Postural Care for Children with Disabilities questionnaire was completed at baseline and 6 weeks later. The training programme was delivered to N = 75 parents and school staff. Of these, N = 65 completed both baseline and follow-up measures and were used in the data analysis. Participants and therapists were also invited to provide further feedback on the overall training programme via interviews and focus groups.

Results: Paired samples t-tests were used to determine statistically significant differences between baseline and follow-up scores for each of the three subscales. Mean levels of understanding and knowledge and confidence improved (P < 0.001), while concerns decreased (P < 0.001). Qualitative data were collected via interviews and group discussions providing an in-depth perspective on how participants experienced change.

Discussion: Results suggest improvement in knowledge, understanding and confidence in parents and school staff that care for children with significant physical postural care impairments.