Interdisciplinary Early Intervention Research Articles

Establishing a Comprehensive & Coherent Definition of Parent Responsiveness for Enhanced Multidisciplinary Team Communication in Early Intervention

Abstract Date Presented 04/21/2023 This systematic review of multidisciplinary literature yielded a comprehensive definition of parent responsiveness to infant cues that OT practitioners can use when communicating with interdisciplinary early intervention teams. Primary Author and Speaker: Emily Campi Additional Authors and Speakers: Elizabeth Nye Contributing Authors: Grace Baranek

How social workers add value to the perinatal team. Hospital de la santa creu i sant pau

Pregnancy and childbirth are much more than biological processes. They are fundamental events in the life of a woman and her family. It is therefore essential to care for pregnant women and their families in a holistic manner, taking their personal, cultural, social, and family constraints into account.With this concept in mind, in 2000, the Fetal Medicine Unit and the Neonatal Unit at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau established a Working Group of Perinatal Medicine. When the Working Group was first formed, weekly meetings were held with neonatologists and obstetricians. However, other healthcare professionals soon joined the team. In 2007, a hospital social worker was invited to participate to promote awareness among the members about social difficulties that could interfere with the welfare of a mother and her unborn child.The aim of this presentation is to show the benefits of including a social worker on the interdisciplinary perinatal team at a tertiary hospital. The Working Group now consists of pediatricians, neonatologists, obstetricians, midwives, prenatal nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other professional specialists if the case requires.The Group’s perinatal team focuses on an early approach to monitoring pregnant women and unborn children who require additional attention due to medical conditions, past and present pregnancy complications or fetal abnormalities, and it provides biopsychosocial care of pregnant women from both disciplines.The social intervention and assessment are recorded in the patient’s clinical history through the ETC (Clinical Work Station). This platform is used by all team members for data collection and clinical history. The social worker now plays an active role in all cases where pregnancy gives rise to social difficulties and in cases that present social risk. Since the team was established we have observed greater fluency in coordination with the institutions of child protection and community resources. We have also observed improvements in communication among professionals, and in agility and optimization when dealing with situations of social risk in pregnant women. The establishment of a multidisciplinary team has facilitated fluid communication among the different health care professionals and enabled an individualised approach to each case.As a sign of team involvement in these situations of social risk and how the participation of the discipline of Social Work has created a greater awareness of the professionals who care for these pregnant women , the Social Work Unit has conducted a research during 2014 and 2015.The results of the research, centred on the 107 cases handled by the social worker in these two years, conclude that the interdisciplinary early intervention supposes a minimization of the intervention by agents of child protection and reduction of the need of taking drastic measures in benefit of the empowerment of women as an active part of their process of change and resolution of their conflicts. While the 77.57 % of the treated cases have been referred to primary attention devices, only a 22.43 % have required the intervention of a child protection service.

Percepção da família e do terapeuta sobre a evolução de crianças em uma abordagem interdisciplinar de intervenção precoce

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar e comparar a percepção dos pais e dos terapeutas referente aos efeitos da intervenção precoce no desenvolvimento de seus filhos, bem como acerca da evolução da criança e perspectivas futuras. Métodos: participaram deste estudo nove sujeitos, incluídos na clínica de Intervenção Precoce. Para a coleta dos dados realizaram-se entrevistas com os pais e/ou responsáveis pelas crianças e com os terapeutas de referência, as quais foram gravadas em áudio e transcritas literalmente. As informações foram analisadas qualitativamente e confrontadas, considerando os aspectos do desenvolvimento linguístico, motor, social e psíquico das crianças. Resultados: dos nove sujeitos analisados, sete apresentaram percepção parental e terapêutica semelhante para as questões do desenvolvimento abordadas e em dois casos houve divergência entre a visão dos familiares e dos terapeutas acerca do desenvolvimento das crianças, em que os familiares demonstram expectativas muito distintas das dos terapeutas quanto ao futuro dos filhos. Em relação à comunicação, todos os pais percebem avanços como as terapeutas. Conclusão: a percepção das terapeutas e pais demonstrou efeitos positivos da intervenção precoce interdisciplinar, manifestada na concordância de pontos de vista em relação aos sete dos nove sujeitos analisados. O estudo reforçou, ainda, a importância de se realizar a escuta qualificada das dificuldades da família quanto à limitação de seus filhos e orientá-las adequadamente a depender da patologia e/ou distúrbio apresentado.

Early Intervention with Compensated Lower Back-Injured Workers at Risk for Work Disability: Fixed versus Flexible Approach

Low back pain (LBP), a leading cause of disability, has been linked with profound economic, personal, and social costs (Hills 2006; World Health Organization 2003). This significant effect propels research in identifying modifiable risk factors that protract LBP; these factors can be targeted in early intervention (EI) (Pransky, Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 49(3):249–251, 2007; Schultz et al., Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 17:327–352, 2007, Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(2), 140–151, 2008; White et al. 2013). This randomized controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of two approaches, fixed versus flexible, in delivering proactive, interdisciplinary EI with 63 workers within a workers' compensation interdisciplinary case management setting (i.e., WorkSafeBC, Canada). Off-work 4 to 10 weeks post-back injury, the workers were also at risk of protracted work disability (N = 24 at high risk; N = 39 at moderate risk). Fixed, protocol-driven, interdisciplinary, multimodal, clinical, occupational, and case management-based EI was compared with a flexible, individual need-driven EI with the same modalities as the fixed approach. Results showed a significant narrowing of the outcome gap between the two interventions. High-risk injured workers tended to benefit more from a fixed, protocol-driven approach, as shown in the pilot study (Schultz et al. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(2), 140–151, 2008). The results indicated that moderate-risk workers benefitted from a more flexible, need-based, individual, and low-intensity approach as compared with a fixed approach. The flexible approach for moderate-risk workers was also less costly and consumed fewer rehabilitation and health care resources. Recommendations for future research and practice included larger sample sizes, controllability of research interventions, risk for disability-EI matching, and conditions under which a flexible delivery of multimodal EI is more efficacious than a fixed approach, and vice versa.

Feasibility of an Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Patients with Low Levels of Responsiveness Following an Acquired Brain Injury

There is a scarcity of research investigating interdisciplinary early rehabilitation intervention models for people with low levels of responsiveness following acquired brain injury. This is particularly problematic for service models in acute hospital settings where early rehabilitation of such patients may be assigned a low priority in comparison to other competing demands. This pilot study investigated the feasibility of implementing an interdisciplinary early rehabilitation intervention in an acute neurosciences ward within existing staffing, and describes clinical changes among intervention participants. A prospective longitudinal study, with a matched historical control (individually matched by Glasgow Coma Scale) was undertaken. Prospective intervention participants (n= 13) received up to twice-weekly interdisciplinary intervention in addition to usual care. Matched historical controls (n= 13) received only usual care. Implementing an interdisciplinary early intervention proved feasible in this acute care setting. Significant improvement (alpha = .05) among the patients receiving the interdisciplinary intervention was observed across all clinical outcomes, including: Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, Glasgow Coma Scale, Mental Status Questionnaire, Royal Brisbane Hospital Outcome Measure for Swallowing, selected subtests of the Functional Independence Measure, Acquired Brain Injury Physiotherapy Assessment and the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale. A future randomised clinical trial is warranted.

Code Sets for Everyday Life Situations of Children Aged 0–6: Sleeping, Mealtimes and Play — A Study Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth

Introduction: The complexity of the Child and Youth version of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, the ICF-CY, is a challenge for occupational therapists and other professionals in clinical work. Code sets including only essential categories help to make it more user-friendly. Thus far, code sets have been developed to reflect functioning for children in different developmental periods. However, there are no code sets that support screening of participation in everyday life situations and can be used across diagnoses. This exploratory study is the first attempt to develop code sets for preschoolers' (age 0–6 years) everyday life situations. Method: Using sequential Delphi processes with expert panels consisting of 35 professionals in five interdisciplinary early intervention teams and six parents of children, the study identified content in three code sets: Sleeping, Mealtimes and Play. Results: A limited number of relevant categories were identified for three code sets: Sleeping (12), Mealtimes (21) and Play (30). Findings suggested a professional focus on Environmental factors compared with a parental focus on Body functions. Conclusion: It is important to consider the opinions of all involved when developing code sets to provide a common framework for screening of children's everyday functioning.

A Cost Utility Analysis of Interdisciplinary Early Intervention Versus Treatment as Usual For High-Risk Acute Low Back Pain Patients

Chronic pain is a costly and debilitating condition that has proven difficult to treat, solely with medical interventions, due to the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in its onset and persistence. Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of interdisciplinary treatment that includes psychosocial interventions for low back pain. Nevertheless, these interventions continue to be under-utilized due to concerns of cost and applicability. The present study utilized a cost utility analysis to evaluate effectiveness and associated costs of interdisciplinary early intervention for individuals with acute low back pain that was identified as high-risk for becoming chronic. Treatment effectiveness was evaluated using a standard pain measure and quality-adjusted life years, and associated medical and employment costs were gathered for 1 year. Results indicated that subjects improved significantly from pretreatment to 1-year follow-up, and that the early intervention group reported fewer health-care visits and missed workdays than the treatment as usual group. The majority of 1,000 bootstrapped samples demonstrated the dominance of the early intervention program as being both more effective and less costly from a societal perspective. The early intervention treatment was the preferred option in over 85% of samples within an established range of acceptable costs. These results are encouraging evidence for the cost-effectiveness of interdisciplinary intervention and the benefits of targeted early treatment.

A Prospective Study of the Effectiveness of Early Intervention with High-risk Back-injured Workers—A Pilot Study

It was postulated that workers, at the sub-acute stage after injury, respond differently to clinical and occupational interventions offered in a workers' compensation environment. Individual worker risk of disability, it was further believed, would influence the effectiveness of early intervention. The objective of the current pilot study was to evaluate return to work (RTW) outcomes following proactive, combined clinical, occupational and case management-based interdisciplinary early intervention, provided in a workers' compensation environment 4-10 weeks of onset of back pain, to workers with medium and high risk for disability. The project was a controlled study comparing conventional workers' compensation case management with integrated, interdisciplinary and multimodal early intervention (hereinafter referred to as "EI"). At baseline, risk status was determined by a validated Risk for Disability Questionnaire by Carragee et al. (Spine 5(1):24-35, 2005). Seventeen workers at high risk of protracted disability and 20 workers at moderate risk of disability received conventional case management, and 17 workers assessed at high risk of protracted disability and 18 workers at moderate risk of disability received the Early Intervention. At 3 months post back pain onset, no statistically significant differences were identified in RTW outcomes between conventional case management and the Early Intervention. However, by 6 months post back pain onset, workers at high risk of work disability who received the Early Intervention were significantly more likely to RTW than high risk workers who received conventional case management. In contrast, moderate risk workers continued to exhibit no statistically significant differences in RTW outcomes. Multimodal Early Intervention in the workers' compensation case management context is likely effective for workers with sub-acute back pain who are at high risk of occupational disability. The comprehensive Early Intervention is, however, likely redundant for workers who are not at high risk for disability and should not be applied indiscriminately. Further studies are required to determine longer-term Early Intervention outcomes, and to replicate the findings using a randomized control design. Also, with a larger sample size, it will be possible to determine predictors of occupational outcomes.

Interdisciplinary Personnel Preparation

Interdisciplinary personnel preparation in early intervention is viewed by many as critical to the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to providing exemplary services to children with special needs and their families. Recent work has shown that the extent to which students take part in interdisciplinary preservice preparation predicts the degree to which they will provide interdisciplinary, collaborative services once they graduate. Despite the fact that the early intervention literature provides various descriptions of interdisciplinary personnel preparation programs, little information is available documenting the extent to which program graduates utilize the interdisciplinary practices targeted in these programs. The current study used a self-evaluation methodology to survey graduates of 2 interdisciplinary early intervention specialization programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results indicted that the graduates were utilizing most of the targeted practices in their current job settings and did so on a fairly frequent basis. In addition, when the graduates were asked about the extent to which they were exposed to specific interdisciplinary practices (eg, interacting with students from other disciplines during coursework), the opportunities within their specialization program were rated as occurring much more frequently than within their traditional program. The results have implications for programs offering (or seeking to offer) interdisciplinary specializations. The follow-up methodology may be beneficial as a model for documenting the use of specific interdisciplinary practices by graduates.

Occupational Therapy for Children With Perinatal HIV Infection

This article discusses occupational therapy for children with perinatal HIV infection and their care-givers. An interdisciplinary early intervention and preschool program serving these children is described. Current medical and neurological research is reviewed to serve as a basis for occupational therapy intervention. Therapeutic approaches that integrate physical, neurological, developmental, and psychosocial needs are presented.

Validity of Curriculum-Based Scales With Young Neurodevelopmentally Disabled Children: Implications for Team Assessment

Recent surveys in early childhood special education and developmental school psychology reveal that criterion-referenced or curriculum-based developmental assessment (CBA) is the primary form of measurement employed by interdisciplinary early intervention teams. Despite their wide use, little technical adequacy data are available on the validity of CBA instruments with specific populations of handicapped preschoolers. This research analyzed the concurrent validity of two norm-based and six curriculum-based scales commonly used within community early intervention programs with a sample of 50 infants and preschool children having diverse neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral deficits. Results supported the concur- rent validity of CBA measures despite some significant interscale differences. Based on these results, guidelines are offered regarding "best practices" in the use of CBA systems by early intervention teams.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Early Brain Injury

A previous study reported the results of a 3 1/2-month interdisciplinary early intervention effort with 17 preschoolers with either congenital ( n = 10) or acquired ( n = 7) brain injury. Findings for both groups were somewhat optimistic, though tentative. This report is a 2-year follow-up of 14 of the 17 original cases that examines and compares the developmental patterns and status of children with congenital versus acquired brain insult. Contrary to expectations, children with congenital impairments exhibit greater progress when compared with the acquired impairment group. Differences and similarities between groups are discussed, as well as program variables that might account for the progress of both groups and the differential progress of the congenitally impaired children. Number of days enrolled in early childhood education programming, frequency of therapy services, and parental involvement were related to progress; and insufficient program involvement was related to the two cases of developmental regression.

Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children

Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children

Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children: A Family Oriented Approach

Book Review| Online October 01 1986 Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children: A Family Oriented Approach Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children: A Family Oriented Approach. F. F. Russell, C. Beasley, B. Connelly, L. S. Gafford, J. D. George, B. Michael, D. J. Perkins, and J. Powell ( 1985). University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, 711 Jefferson Ave., Memphis, TN 38105. 133 pp., $12.00. Ellen Berger Ellen Berger Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Author & Article Information Online ISSN: 1943-7676 Print ISSN: 0272-9490 Copyright © 1986 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.1986 The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1986, Vol. 40(10), 721–722. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.40.10.721b Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Ellen Berger; Interdisciplinary Early Intervention for Developmentally Delayed Infants and Young Children: A Family Oriented Approach. Am J Occup Ther October 1986, Vol. 40(10), 721–722. doi: https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.40.10.721b Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Journal of Occupational Therapy Search Advanced Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright © 1986 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.1986 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Interdisciplinary early intervention program.

Developmental data were obtained on 40 children with Down's syndrome by an interdisciplinary team during an ongoing early intervention program. Interventive methods are described. Results are compared with available data on children with Down's syndrome who were not in early intervention programs. Comparisons of developmental progress are also made of children begun in the early intervention program before six months of age with those begun after six months of age. Conclusions from the study indicate that early intervention helps the child in earlier attainment of many developmental tasks and enhances functioning of the family unit.