Parental involvement is a crucial force in children’s development, learning and success at school and in life [1]. Participation, defined by the World Health Organization as ‘a person’s involvement in life situations’ [2] for children means involvement in everyday activities, such as recreational, leisure, school and household activities [3]. Several authors use the term social participation emphasising the importance of engagement in social situations [4, 5]. Children’s participation in daily life is vital for healthy development, social and physical competencies, social-emotional well-being, sense of meaning and purpose in life [6]. Through participation in different social contexts, children gather the knowledge and skills needed to interact, play, work, and live with other people [4, 7, 8]. Unfortunately, research shows that children with a physical disability are at risk of lower participation in everyday activities [9]; they participate less frequently in almost all activities compared with children without physical disabilities [10, 11], have fewer friends and often feel socially isolated [12-14]. Parents, in particular, positively influence the participation of their children with a physical disability at school, at home and in the community [15]. They undertake many actions to improve their child’s participation in daily life [15, 16]. However, little information is available about what parents of children with a physical disability do to enable their child’s participation, what they come across and what kind of needs they have. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate parents’ actions, challenges, and needs while enhancing the participation of their school-aged child with a physical disability. In order to achieve this aim, two steps have been made. In the first step, the literature has been examined to explore the topic of this thesis (actions, challenges and needs) and to clarify definitions for the concepts of participation and social participation. Second, for the purposes of giving breadth and depth of understanding of the topic of this thesis a mixed methods approach using three different empirical research methods [17-19], was applied to gather information from parents regarding their actions, challenges and needs.
Intra-ocular straylight can cause decreased visual functioning, and it may cause diminished vision-related quality of life (VRQOL). This cross-sectional population-based study investigates the association between straylight and VRQOL in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between straylight modeled continuously and cutoff at the recommended fitness-to-drive value, straylight ≥ 1.4 log(s), and VRQOL. The study showed that participants with normal straylight values, straylight ≤ 1.4 log(s), rated their VRQOL slightly better than those with high straylight values (straylight ≥ 1.4 log(s)). Furthermore, multivariable regression analysis revealed a borderline statistical significant association (p = .06) between intra-ocular straylight and self-reported VRQOL in middle-aged and elderly individuals. The association between straylight and self-reported VRQOL was not influenced by the status of the intra-ocular lens (natural vs. artificial intra-ocular lens after cataract extraction) or the number of (instrumental) activities of daily living that were reported as difficult for the elderly individuals.
Purpose: Providing an overview of studies on family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks of critically ill patients, addressing two research questions (RQ): 1) What are the perceptions of patients, relatives, and staff about family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks? and 2) What are the effects of interventions of family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks? Material and methods: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods articles were identified using PubMed, Embase and CINAHL. Studies reporting on family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks of adult critically ill patients were included. A convergent segregated approach for mixed-methods reviews was used. Results: Eighteen articles were included; 13 for RQ1, and 5 for RQ2. The included studies were quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method, including between 8 and 452 participants. The descriptive studies exhibit a general appreciation for involvement of relatives in physiotherapy-related tasks, although most of the studies reported on family involvement in general care and incorporated diverse physiotherapy-related tasks. One study explored the effectiveness of family participation on a rehabilitation outcome and showed that the percentage of patients mobilizing three times a day increased. Conclusion: Positive attitudes were observed among patients, their relatives and staff towards family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks of critically ill patients. However, limited research has been done into the effect of interventions containing family participation in physiotherapy-related tasks.
