Caregivers' experiences with the new family-centred paediatric physiotherapy programme COPCA: A qualitative study.
Schirin Akhbari Ziegler, Elena Mitteregger, Mijna Hadders-Algra
PMID 31800118WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers of infants with motor delay described six months of home COPCA physiotherapy as varied, helpful and satisfying.
They valued coaching that fit daily care and said they learned to support their infant between sessions.
Key findings
01Mothers described COPCA as varied, helpful and satisfying, and none reported unhelpful or negative experiences.
02Eleven mothers said home-based intervention was particularly useful because it fitted their home conditions.
03All mothers reported learning to support the infant at home between sessions, and 13 described gaining knowledge about promoting development.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only mothers answered the questionnaire, so fathers' views are not represented. The questions did not explicitly ask for unhelpful or disagreeable aspects, so the results may be biased toward positive experiences. The physiotherapists were still learning COPCA during the six months, so the intervention may not have been delivered exactly as intended. Fifteen families from one region of Switzerland participated, and only one caregiver per family was included, so the findings may not transfer to other services or families. Data were collected only at the final session, so changes during the programme were not tracked.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that COPCA works because every mother reported a positive experience. The study asked mothers about their views, did not measure infant outcomes, and did not ask explicitly for negative experiences.