Early intervention services: perspective of families with children with psychomotor difficulties

Rana intervencija predstavlja pružanje usluga i podrške za dijete sa zaostajanjem u psihomotoričkom razvoju i njegovu obitelj. Ovim radom se želi prikazati perspektiva i iskustva obitelji djece sa zaostajanjem u psihomotoričkom razvoju s obzirom na usluge rane intervencije koje primaju ili su primali. Bitno je naglasiti potrebe tih obitelji te predložiti smjernice za poboljšanje usluge rane intervencije u Hrvatskoj. U skladu s općim ciljem istraživanja postavljeni su specifični ciljevi koji se ogledaju u istraživačkim pitanjima: dostupnost usluga rane intervencije i zadovoljstvo ostvarenim uslugama, odnosi sa stručnjacima u različitim sustavima u razdoblju rane procjene djeteta, brige, strahovi i teškoće s kojima se susreću i suočavaju obitelji djece s odstupanjima u razvoju. Korištena je kvalitativna fenomenološka metodologija kako bi se omogućilo dublje razumijevanje istraživanog fenomena. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 6 roditelja, 5 majki i jedan otac, koji su u istraživanje izabrani namjernim uzorkovanjem. Kriterij odabira sudionika su imanje djeteta sa zaostajanjem u razvoju koje nije starije od 6 godina te uključenost u različite usluge rane intervencije. Sudionici su ispitani metodom polustrukturiranog intervjua koji su snimani audio zapisom, transkribirani te analizirani kvalitativnom metodom. Roditelji su većinom zadovoljni primljenim uslugama i odnosima sa stručnjacima, ali daju primjedbe na dostupnost, teškoće u pronalasku informacija, komunikaciju sa stručnjacima te tromost sustava. Do informacija najčešće dolaze iz neformalnih izvora, Internet i drugi roditelji, a kao najveći nedostatak navode duge liste čekanja te premali broj stručnjaka na broj djece. Nedostaje suradni i podržavajući odnos između stručnjaka i roditelja te većina usluga nije usmjerena na obitelj nego samo na dijete. Kako bi se usluge i sustav poboljšao važno je prepoznavanje zaostajanja u razvoju na vrijeme, usmjerenost na obitelj i edukacija roditelja, učiniti informacije dostupnim na jednom mjestu, individualizacija pristupa te bolja komunikacija među stručnjacima i timski rad. Najveće brige roditelja su u području budućnosti i razvoja djeteta gdje im je potrebna podrška sa suočavanjem na nove izazove. Iako se rana intervencija u Hrvatskoj provodi već duže vrijeme te za to od 2012. postoji i zakonodavni okvir u praksi se treba dogoditi još mnogo promjena kako bi se prilagodio potrebama obitelji djece sa zaostajanjem u psihomotoričkom razvoju.Early childhood intervention represents providing services and support for children with psychomotor developmental delay and their families. This paper aims to present the perspective and experiences of families of children with psychomotor developmental delay with regard to early intervention services they receive or have received. It is important to emphasize the needs of these families and to propose guidelines to improve early intervention services in Croatia. In accordance with the general aim of the research, specific objectives were set, which are reflected in the research questions: availability of early intervention services and satisfaction with the services, relations with professionals in the various systems during early assessment of a child, worries, fears and difficulties encountered and faced by the families of children with developmental delay. Qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to allow a deeper understanding of the studied phenomenon. The study included six parents, five mothers and one father, who were chosen for the study by selective sampling. In order to fit the selection criteria the participants had to have a child with developmental delay, not older than 6 years of age and were involved in a variety of early intervention services. Semi-structured interviews were used to test the participants which were saved by audio recordings, transcribed and analyzed through the qualitative method. Parents are generally satisfied with the services received and relationship with specialists. They take issue with the availability of services, difficulties in finding information, communication with experts and inertia of the system. Information usually comes from informal sources like the Internet and other parents, and as the biggest disadvantage they state long waiting lists and insufficient number of specialists on the number of children. Collaborative and supportive relationship between professionals and parents are missing and most of the services are not focused on the family but only on the child. In order to improve the services and the system it is important to identify the developmental delay on time. Family centered services and parent education, ensuring information is accessible in one place, individualization of approach and improved communication among experts and teamwork are also of great importance. The main concerns of parents are due to the future and development of the child where they need support for confronting new challenges. Although early intervention in Croatia has been carried out for a long time and a legal framework has been set in place since 2012, there should be more changes in practice to accommodate the needs of families of children with psychomotor developmental delay