Occupational Therapy

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Browsing Occupational Therapy by Subject "Art in education -- Western Cape (South Africa)"

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    The feasibility of occupational therapy visual art groups for children (8 – 12 years) with learning differences in a low-resource setting in the Western Cape, South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Conolly, Naomi Beth; Hoosain, Munira; Plastow, Nicola Ann; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Occupational Therapy.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Introduction: There has been a worldwide increase in the prevalence of learning differences, increasing the demand for feasible and effective services that support these children’s development and functioning. However, very few children have access to specialised individual interventions. Art is a well-known therapeutic medium that has the advantage of being adaptable to different clients, cultures, and settings, to develop prerequisite skills required for individual growth and participation in everyday life. Group interventions may be more feasible for low-resource settings regarding time, human resources, and costs. However, feasibility testing is needed before high-quality effectiveness evaluations can be recommended for art group programs in low-resource settings. Aim: To determine the feasibility of occupational therapy visual art groups for children aged 8 to 12 years with learning differences in a low-resource setting in the Western Cape, South Africa by 1) synthesising the available international research and 2) conducting a feasibility study. Methods and analysis: The systematic review was structured according to the PRISMA 2020 systematic review reporting guidelines, and registered on PROSPERO. Eight electronic databases were screened for eligible primary data sources, with no limiters. Two independent reviewers completed the title/ abstract and then full-text screening phases, using Rayyan software. The feasibility study used a case series design with convenience sampling to select eight participants (aged 8 to 12 years) with learning difference/s within a low-resource community in the Western Cape, South Africa. The SPIRIT guidelines for interventional trials were used to improve reporting. Participants attended eight weekly 45-minute visual art groups designed by the primary author. Feasibility was assessed in terms of demand, acceptability, and practicality through Likert-scale measures during caregiver interviews. Limited efficacy was evaluated using the Creative Participation Assessment (CPA), the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) with caregivers, and the Child Occupational Self-Assessment (COSA) with participants. Results: All 20 articles included in the systematic review reported effectiveness outcomes, indicating decreased problem behaviours, and improved emotional well-being, social interaction, self-expression, cognitive and motor development, and caregiver attachment for children with learning differences. The heterogeneity of the data prevented a meta-analysis of effectiveness outcomes. Six articles reported feasibility criteria. Evidence synthesis led to the AR3T principles, which serve as a framework to guide the development of the art group intervention. The pilot study found the intervention was in demand, acceptable, and practical, and could be effectively implemented in the low-resource community selected for the study. The data also showed signs of limited efficacy, as participants made a clinically and statistically significant improvement in their level of creative participation (CPA) and occupational performance (COPM) from pre- to post-intervention. The COSA showed trends of improvement, especially for older children, but the results did not reach significance. Conclusion: Art group interventions have the potential to be a feasible and effective low-resource intervention that can be utilised to promote the development of children affected by learning differences. Further feasibility and effectiveness testing with larger sample sizes are required to refine the intervention and determine the extent of its therapeutic effect.