Description of self-care training in occupational therapy: Case studies of five Kenyan children with cerebral palsy.
The purpose of this prospective case study design was to describe the changes in dressing skills for five Kenyan children with cerebral palsy who participated in a 10-week occupational therapy intervention programme. The training sessions were individually designed to meet the needs of the child. The children's performances on undressing and dressing and the time these tasks took was used as a baseline and outcome measure. These measurements were documented by video films and then analysed using visual inspection and converted into the scores of the Klein-Bell Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Scale. The results for each child were analysed using a simplified version of the Reliability Change Index. The results showed that four of the five children improved their ability to dress and that the children increased their time to undress significantly (p<0.05). Three children needed more time and two children needed less time for dressing (p<0.05). The results were influenced by the activity limitations among these children and the environmental, social backgrounds, cultural and economic situation unique to Kenya. It is recommended that case study research be used to validate clinical practice in paediatric occupational therapy and to understand cultural differences and its impact on health care.
Guidetti
SUSANNE
S
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, and Department of Occupational Therapy, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
S derback
INGRID
I