Informing Families of their Child's Disability

Author/Researcher: Alison Harnett

Description

National Guidelines were developed through consultation and research, on best practice for informing families of their child's disability. The Guidelines relate to the diagnosis of physical, sensory, intellectual disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. The guidelines provide recommendations for professionals from across medical, nursing and allied health professional fields.

Contents

The focus groups provided information on how families in Ireland currently receive their child's diagnosis of disability, and recommendations for best practice in the future. The questionnaire survey contained further information on current practice and validation of the recommendations from the focus group data.

Objectives

A mixed methodology was used which included a national and international literature review, 22 focus groups (7 with families of children with disabilities and 15 with individual professional disciplines who communicate with families around the diagnosis) and a national survey of 584 families and 1588 professionals.

Status	Current
Publisher	Irish Faculty of Child Psychiatry,Audiological Society of Ireland,Royal College of Physicians in Ireland,Irish College of General Practitioners,Royal College of Physicians,Irish Hopsital Consultants Association,An Bord Altranais,Irish Nurses Organisation,Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists,Department of Health and Children,Health Services Executive,National Social Work Qualifications Board,Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland,Health Services National Partnership Forum,School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin,School of Psychology, University College Dublin,School of Applied Social Science, University College Dublin,Inclusion Ireland,Psychological Society of Ireland
AlternativeTitle	Development of Best Practice Guidelines
Description	National Guidelines were developed through consultation and research, on best practice for informing families of their child's disability. The Guidelines relate to the diagnosis of physical, sensory, intellectual disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. The guidelines provide recommendations for professionals from across medical, nursing and allied health professional fields.
Other Contributors(s)	Brendan Dolan, Dr. Suzanne Guerin, Edel Tierney, Maria Walls
Publication Year	2007
Publication Status	· Report published · Other Publications
Data Available to other researchers?	Yes
Completion Date	03/12/2007