Family-centered services for children with disabilities – from abstract ideals to concrete practices

Abstract

Introduction: Family-centred services (FCS) are considered best practice in paediatric rehabilitation. It is therefore of interest to investigate the professional basis of FCS and how this theoretical and empirical groundwork can be transferred into concrete practices. Main part: FCS is based on a set of principles that are embedded in ecological system theories of development, and within a capacity-building intervention paradigm. Such a paradigm emphasizes the strengthening of family empowerment and self-efficacy through active involvement of the child and parent. One example detailed in the literature shows how physiotherapists can make use of capacity-building strategies to involve the family in planning and implementation of interventions. Conclusion: By explaining the theoretical and empirical basis for FCS, the article contributes to the development of family-centred paediatric physiotherapy practices. Family-centred physiotherapy requires physiotherapists to work with families in ways that reinforce a parent’s competence in using everyday learning opportunities to support the child’s development..

Keywords

• Family-centred services
• childhood disability
• capacity-building collaboration