Crisis Brings Innovative Strategies: Collaborative Empathic Teleintervention for Children with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Verónica Schiariti and Robin A. McWilliam
Additional contact information
Verónica Schiariti: Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
Robin A. McWilliam: Department of Special Education and Multiple Abilities, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: Background: While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread across the globe, public health strategies—including the social distancing measures that many countries have implemented— have caused disruptions to daily routines. For children with disabilities and their families, such measures mean a lack of access to the resources they usually have through schools and habilitation or rehabilitation services. Health emergencies, like the current COVID-19 pandemic, require innovative strategies to ensure continuity of care. The objective of this perspective paper is to propose the adoption of two innovative strategies for teleintervention. Methods: The novel strategies include: (1) to apply the principles of the Routines-Based Model beyond the early years of development, and (2) to adopt My Abilities First—which is a novel educational tool promoting an abilities-oriented approach in healthcare encounters. Results: In the context of COVID-19, and using accessible language, the content of the paper highlights what is important for families and individuals with disabilities, and how the proposed novel strategies could be useful delivering remote support. Conclusions: The principles of the Routines-Based Model and My Abilities First are universal and facilitate collaborative, empathic, family-centered teleintervention for children and youth with disabilities during and post the COVID-19 lockdown.

Keywords: COVID-19; functioning; participation; Routines-Based Model; family-centered; child; pandemic; teleintervention; abilities; rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1749/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1749/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1749-:d:497582

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().