Watch Me Move: A Program For Parents of Young Children With Gross-Motor Delays

Abstract

ABSTRACTAims: Watch Me Move (WMM) is a 6-week parent education program for caregivers of children with gross-motor delays. The aims are to improve parent-child interaction in a gross-motor context, increase parents' knowledge of behavioral cues and gross-motor development, and decrease perceived parental stress. Methods: Forty mothers of children, 6 months to 3 years of age, with a gross-motor delay participated in a randomized control trial comparing parents who received the WMM program plus standard of care physiotherapy (n = 24) with parents whose children received standard of care physiotherapy (n = 16). Results: Mothers who received the WMM program had significantly higher change scores on two subscales of the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS; i.e., cognitive growth fostering, and responsiveness to caregiver) and on the Parent Knowledge Questionnaire assessing knowledge of behavioral cues and gross-motor development. There were no significant group differences on the other four NCATS subscales (i.e., sensitivity to cues, response to child's distress, social emotional growth fostering, and clarity of cues) or the Parenting Stress Index. Conclusions: The addition of WMM to traditional physiotherapy improved aspects of mothers' ability to interact with their children and their knowledge of behavioral cues and gross-motor development.