Parental perception of facilitators and barriers to activity and participation in an integrated tele-rehabilitation model for children with cerebral visual impairment in South India – A virtual focus group discussion study

PURPOSE: This study utilized virtual focus group discussions to document the facilitators and barriers reported by the parents as part of the tele-rehabilitation service delivery model in India. METHODS: This study included 17 participants who were enrolled into the Tele-rehabilitation program (16 mothers, 1 father) and the virtual focus group discussion (V-FGD) were conducted through a WhatsApp video call. Three V-FGDs were conducted involving two moderators and a note taker. The V-FGD, focused at extracting the perceptions of parents pertaining to facilitators, barriers and coping mechanisms to barriers related to the tele-rehabilitation model. RESULTS: Thematic analysis resulted in four themes for barriers that included: family and support, time, parent and care taker, child and place of living related; facilitators reported included: continuous monitoring, accessibility to professional services, provision of resource materials and parental empowerment. Themes “family and support” and “child” were most reported by parents with children >3 years and ≤3 years respectively. Finally, the barriers and facilitators were aligned with the chapters and codes of International Classification of Functioning, children and youth version (ICF-CY) environment and personal factors. CONCLUSION: This V-FGD highlights the importance of parental-centred and structured Tele-rehabilitation among children with CVI in India. The outcome of this study opens avenues for creating effective intervention.