Eve Hutton Canterbury Christ Church University Postural care for children in mainstream schools - a pilot study of the views of teachers and assistants

Starting out What were the issues ? Therapists concerns 24 hr postural care Parental concerns Disability legislation Inclusion

What is postural care? The constant promotion of good posture to enable children to participate in all activities thus enabling them to fulfill their potential.

Planning Applying for funding Steering committee –Parents –Specialist teachers –Therapists ( PT/OT) –Academics

Questions ? What do teachers understand about postural care? What are the barriers and facilitators for postural care in schools? What help would teachers & assistants like ?

Talking with teachers & assistants Four primary schools 36 teachers and assistants interviewed

What did we find out? Postural management a term not widely understood or used ‘its how you sit how you stand’ ‘its about keeping children comfortable’ Appreciation of when a child was uncomfortable or insufficiently supported

Emotional impact on teachers and assistants ‘I didn’t want to hurt him’ Negative views about equipment. ‘he’s stood up and strapped into this contraption’

Some teachers and assistants were able to make sessions fun & enjoyable. ‘He didn’t like doing his exercises on his own but as soon as all the children joined in he was OK.’

Limited understanding of the purpose of postural management. ‘We don’t really know much about the programmes they are following we leave this to the assistants’ Information from many (some conflicting) sources - no formal training.

What support did teachers want? Practical solutions More space/time Closer liaison with therapists Regular timetabled visits

Sharing the findings Developing recommendations Identifying further gaps in our knowledge & understanding in schools Wider UK study ? Children’s viewpoint

Developing an information resource Funding from Kent County Council Led to development of ‘A-Z of postural care’. Designed to support ‘lead’ schools in the area. Links to general awareness raising of the importance of good posture for ALL children.

References Gericke T ( 2006) Postural management for children with cerebral palsy: a consensus statement. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. DfES ( 2007) Aiming high for disabled children: better support for families. Hutton E & Coxon K ( 2008) Involving parents as service users in an interprofessional research project. Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Thanks To the posture and mobility group for supporting this small pilot study. We value feedback & comments about the A-Z of postural care