gms | German Medical Science

Background: Children’s disabilities have an impact on family life. Holistic assessment of the barriers and facilitators of the participation is the starting point for determining a family’s support and rehabilitation needs.

Aim: The research was designed to explore practices for the assessment the participation of children and young people. The research questions were:

1.

What are the current practices in the assessment of the participation of children, and

2.

What methods can be used to assess the participation of children as perceived by the child or their family?

Method: Assessment practices and suitable methods for assessing participation were explored in a scoping review. The scoping review included a survey on the methods and practices of assessing the participation of children.

Results/findings: Assessment practices and methods vary greatly. The responses (n=13) highlighted the fact that structured participation measurement tools are still rarely used. In total, 40 measurement tools of children’s participation which meet the inclusion criteria were identified. Based on the suitability criteria, the best measurement tools for family carer situations were chosen, namely the Participation and Environment Measure – Children and Youth (PEM-CY) and Young Children’s Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM).

Discussion and conclusions: When determining support and rehabilitation needs, views on barriers to participation are needed from professionals as well as children and parents. The research findings highlight areas in need of further development and recommended assessment practices. The PEM-CY and YC-PEM measures identified for recommendation provide comprehensive coverage of participation assessment as per the ICF-CY classification. The research on the assessment practices for families strengthens evidence-based practice.