Video Conferencing to Enhance the Lives of Children Living with Disabilities

Abstract

Approximately 200,000,000 children are born with or will acquire a disability during their lifetimes. In the developing world the situation is much worse, where a lack of education and resources and cultural norms conspire against the disabled child. In countries where resources are scarce, children who are disabled may be neglected and abandoned by society. This paper examines a project that provided effective training for developing world care givers of abandoned disabled children. The project started as a ‘tips and tricks’ for transfer of physiotherapy skills to inner city care givers in Kingston, Jamaica, using video conferencing. It developed into a bespoke, accredited training course for inner city caregivers as more partners were attracted to the project.