Harniess, Phillip Antony;
(2023)
Negotiating engagement and learning - A qualitative study of parental experience in early intervention for infants with cerebral palsy.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy is the most common childhood neurological disability, emerges in infancy, and primarily affects movement. Parental engagement and learning are critical components for successful outcomes within early intervention occupational therapy and physiotherapy for infants (<24 months) with emerging cerebral palsy. However, more research is needed to explore parental experiences and perspectives. This study aimed to explore the parental experience of engagement and learning in early intervention to develop knowledge for practice and research. METHODS: The study used grounded theory within constructivist and pragmatist perspectives. The study had three phases of mixed qualitative design involving in-depth interviews, video case studies, two focus groups and a workshop. Thirty-seven participants (21 parents and 16 therapists) participated in the project. Thirty-six interviews were undertaken, and 16 sessions were videoed within three case studies. RESULTS: The grounded theorising provides an in-depth understanding of engagement and learning in early intervention, as related to parents. Three higher-level insights include: 1. Parents’ traumatic and disrupted transition to parenthood affects parental framing of their engagement and learning throughout early intervention. 2. How parents perceive their emergent knowledge and expertise relative to the therapists’ (and vice versa) implicitly affects the negotiation of roles through micro-interaction. 3. Attention is drawn to tacit collaborative learning strategies within practice and is developed theoretically with novel connections to education theory, dialogical learning praxis. Sociological critique probes social assumptions and relational power by considering sociocultural narratives and the healthcare context relevant to engagement and learning in early intervention. CONCLUSION: This thesis provides novel theoretical contributions through a comprehensive and holistic explanation of the multidimensional nature of engagement and learning in early intervention for infants with cerebral palsy, focusing on parents. The theorising progresses discourse in early intervention literature. Proposed strategies are viable for practice implementation to optimise the learning partnerships between therapists and families. Overall, the theory application theory will benefit parent and infant outcomes.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Negotiating engagement and learning - A qualitative study of parental experience in early intervention for infants with cerebral palsy |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10172403 |
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