Development of a new social prescribing intervention for families of children with cerebral palsy.
Katarina Ostojic, Isra Karem, Betty-Jean Dee-Price and 6 others
PMID 39031596WHAT IT FOUND
Families reported many unmet social needs, especially benefits, National Disability Insurance Scheme and transport.
Parents and clinicians co-designed screening, resource packs and a community linker role, but this paper does not show the programme improves outcomes.
Key findings
01Many families of children with cerebral palsy reported several unmet social needs affecting living conditions, health outcomes, participation, family well-being, family functioning and access to services.
02In the completed pilot screening surveys, 64.8% of families reported one or more unmet social needs; the most frequent were government benefits, National Disability Insurance Scheme and transport.
03The co-designed pathway includes standardized identification of unmet social needs, a targeted resource booklet and a community linker role, and is planned for pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial evaluation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
There were more clinician participants than family participants in the qualitative interviews and workshops. Only two parents took part in the Component 2 workshops to co-design the logic model and prototype. The prototype was piloted at only one study site. The pathway relies on families attending a face-to-face clinic appointment, and attendance has a social gradient. This is an intervention development paper, not an efficacy trial; the next phase is a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial.
Declared interests
No competing interests were reported. The funder named is Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the social prescribing programme improves unmet social needs, health, participation or family well-being. This paper describes co-design and a pilot screening process, and the next phase is a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial.