Moving towards a better understanding of well-being for children with complex disabilities who use a robotic device, the Innowalk ©Made for Movement

Pickering, Dawn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4779-5616 2023. Moving towards a better understanding of well-being for children with complex disabilities who use a robotic device, the Innowalk ©Made for Movement. Presented at: 21st International conference of communication medicine and ethics, Cork, Ireland, 20-22 June 2023.

Preview	PDF (Conference work in progress) - Presentation Download (1MB) | Preview
Preview	PDF Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Researchers have not yet developed a valid and reliable measure for well-being for children with profound disabilities. Profound disabilities refer to those children with learning disabilities and complex needs such as those with cerebral palsy. This disability can make participation in physical activities harder, but the impact upon well-being is unknown. Well-being in this context is referring to how these children are able to indicate they are enjoying life in their environments. Consultation took place with some disabled adults, children and young people and their parents, to discuss the domains of a proposed well-being scale. Based upon previous doctoral research and their contributions, well-being indicators included calmness, comfort, creativity, energy levels, engaging with others and expressing joy. Participants were observed in a special school context when using the Innowalk, a robotic device. The Innowalk is reported to have health and well-being benefits for non-ambulant people but is expensive. A case study series has observed ten children, on three occasions when they participated in the Innowalk, for evidence indicating their well-being. Field notes were made, and these were mapped onto two existing scales the Be-Well checklist and PRIME-O, as well as the proposed new well-being scale, developed into a Likert scale. The data was supported by their parents keeping a diary during this time, followed by interviews. The observational scales were analysed descriptively. Interview and diary data were analysed thematically. These highlight how well-being can fluctuate during a session, the participants enjoyed their experiences in the Innowalk, which supports existing research.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Submission
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Healthcare Sciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Well-being; Innowalk; Disabled children
Funders:	Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists
Last Modified:	20 Jul 2023 10:21
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160597

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item