The range of communication models used by Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) - specifically Occupational Therapists (OTs), Physiotherapists (PTs) and Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) as part of their advice-giving strategies with parents of pre-school children with Cerebral Palsy (CP): An exploratory study

Abstract

Research purpose
To explore the range of communication models used by Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) - specifically Occupational Therapists (OTs), Physiotherapists (PTs) and Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) as part of their advice-giving strategies with parents of pre-school children with Cerebral Palsy (CP).
Method
In November 2010 three Nominal Group Technique (NGT) sessions with AHPs were conducted. NGT was selected as being the most effective approach to elicit contributions from all participants and generate a list of items relevant and meaningful to the question posed. Uni-professional group NGT sessions were held as previous work had indicated contrasting perspectives across AHPs. The researcher synthesised the generated items and integrated these with previously published conceptual models of interaction to develop a coded checklist. Validation took place by asking participants from the NGT sessions to review the checklist and make relevant comments.
Results
The NGT sessions generated 57 separate items in total, these were categorised in themes and subthemes. The researcher identified single, dual and multiple strategy approaches. This gave an indication of the complexity of the advice giving strategies used by AHPs in their work with parents.
Conclusion
This small pilot study has generated some indicative data relating to therapists’ reported advice-giving practices. It was also possible to compare the items from the three groups and identify some similarities and differences in their way of working with parents. Some careful conclusions were drawn about the conceptual models of communication used by the AHPs, and a coded checklist was created as an instrument for future research.