Perceptions, actions and interactions of supervised aides providing services to children with cerebral palsy in pre-school settings: a qualitative study of knowledge application

Abstract

Background: Aides are increasingly providing services to children with cerebral palsy to promote better functioning and participation; these aides work under the direction and supervision of physiotherapists.

Objectives: In this qualitative study, we explored how aides in pre-school settings apply professional knowledge to their daily routines.

Methods: Based on 65 h of observations, including sequential video recordings and seven interviews, we conducted a theme based content analysis connecting to enactive theory of participatory sense-making.

Results: The aides highlighted that time management is challenging due to the temporality of their work, which requires flexibility to provide services as situations occurred. They also requested more supervised interactive involvement to learn and make sense of their own experiences while interacting with the child. Therapeutic handling was highlighted as particularly challenging.

Conclusions: The application of physiotherapy knowledge is not merely knowledge transfer between settings but involves a transformation of knowledge on many levels, including personal, social, and contextual levels.

Keywords:

• Knowledge application
• knowledge transformation
• participatory sense-making
• supervision
• paediatric physiotherapy
• children with cerebral palsy
• qualitative interviews/observations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy [grant number 7161].