Healthcare professionals should develop new strategies for helping to fulfill the now unmet needs of parents whose children have severe cerebral palsy, beginning with improving education about the disease and aiding them in getting financial, emotional, and social support, a study suggests. The findings of the study, “The…
Pediatricians often have to be the bearers of bad news, such as telling parents that their child has a disability. Doing so in a helpful and constructive way can be challenging, but doing a poor job can cause unnecessary distress for everyone involved. A newly published paper outlines a method,…
My parents married in 1998, and one year later, I was born. My mom was given a private room in a private hospital, but shortly after that, she was transported to a public hospital. She felt me moving and told the nurse that something was wrong, but the nurse did…
Parents of children with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience mental illness, a review paper suggests — but there is relatively little data available, and more studies are necessary. Titled “Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and substance-related disorders in parents of children with cerebral palsy: a…
There are disconnects in priorities for healthcare providers caring for very young children with cerebral palsy (CP) and those children’s parents, a new study has found. This finding suggests that addressing these disconnects could improve provider-parent communication and ultimately the quality of care. The study, “Comparing parent…
Educating parents and caregivers about the need for hip surveillance for children with cerebral palsy, and helping reduce barriers in getting the needed X-rays, are key to establishing family-centered services to improve adherence to physician recommendations, an Australian study found. The researchers found that gaps in knowledge, poor communication…
Surgical treatment for scoliosis significantly improves the quality of life in children with cerebral palsy, outweighing the risks of surgery-related complications, a study suggests. Up to 35 percent of cerebral palsy patients with severe motor disability are at increased risk of developing a…
Parents of children born prematurely and diagnosed with cerebral palsy experience cumulative emotional burden and more distress when transitioning their child from neonatal care to developmental and rehabilitative services. That finding, a study published in the journal Developmental Neurorehabilitation, revealed that despite family-centered practices used, additional interventions are still…
A power-training program aimed at improving the function of children with cerebral palsy helped them meet mobility goals, a Dutch study reported. The study was published in the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. The title is “Improved parent-reported mobility and achievement of individual goals on activity and…