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The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji

Early identification of developmental delay or disability and access to early intervention improves outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. However, in many low- and middle-income countries, services and systems to enable timely, co-ordinated care and support are lacking. The aim...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Smith, Fleur, Perera, Sureni, Marella, Manjula
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10531044/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37754592
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186732
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author Smith, Fleur
Perera, Sureni
Marella, Manjula
author_facet Smith, Fleur
Perera, Sureni
Marella, Manjula
author_sort Smith, Fleur
collection PubMed
description Early identification of developmental delay or disability and access to early intervention improves outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. However, in many low- and middle-income countries, services and systems to enable timely, co-ordinated care and support are lacking. The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of families of children with developmental disabilities in Fiji in accessing services for intervention and support across sectors. This qualitative study involved conducting interviews with caregivers of children with disabilities (n = 12), and relevant key stakeholders from health, education, disability, and social support sectors (n = 17). We used journey maps to identify key stages of the families’ journeys, identify key barriers and enablers at each stage, and provide multi-sectoral recommendations for each stage. Enablers include proactive help seeking behaviours, the use of informal support networks and an increasingly supportive policy environment. Barriers to identification include a lack of awareness of developmental disabilities and the benefits of early intervention among service providers and the community. A lack of service availability and capacity, workforce issues, family financial constraints and a lack of collaboration between sectors were barriers to intervention once needs were identified, resulting in significant unmet needs and impacting inclusion and participation for children with disabilities. Overcoming these challenges requires a multi-sectoral approach.
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spelling pubmed-105310442023-09-28 The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji Smith, Fleur Perera, Sureni Marella, Manjula Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Early identification of developmental delay or disability and access to early intervention improves outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. However, in many low- and middle-income countries, services and systems to enable timely, co-ordinated care and support are lacking. The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of families of children with developmental disabilities in Fiji in accessing services for intervention and support across sectors. This qualitative study involved conducting interviews with caregivers of children with disabilities (n = 12), and relevant key stakeholders from health, education, disability, and social support sectors (n = 17). We used journey maps to identify key stages of the families’ journeys, identify key barriers and enablers at each stage, and provide multi-sectoral recommendations for each stage. Enablers include proactive help seeking behaviours, the use of informal support networks and an increasingly supportive policy environment. Barriers to identification include a lack of awareness of developmental disabilities and the benefits of early intervention among service providers and the community. A lack of service availability and capacity, workforce issues, family financial constraints and a lack of collaboration between sectors were barriers to intervention once needs were identified, resulting in significant unmet needs and impacting inclusion and participation for children with disabilities. Overcoming these challenges requires a multi-sectoral approach. MDPI 2023-09-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10531044/ /pubmed/37754592 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186732 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Smith, Fleur
Perera, Sureni
Marella, Manjula
The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title_full The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title_fullStr The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title_full_unstemmed The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title_short The Journey to Early Identification and Intervention for Children with Disabilities in Fiji
title_sort journey to early identification and intervention for children with disabilities in fiji
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10531044/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37754592
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186732
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