Measuring the Effects of Interventions on Participation in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Abstract

Purpose of Review: The 2019 International clinical practice recommendations for developmental coordination disorder” recommended setting goals, and targeting interventions, at the activity and participation level. This review will explore how clinicians can make a positive move towards participation focused practice by measuring the impact of interventions at a participation level.

Recent Findings: Few studies have been published where the primary outcome measure is participation in activities which reflect child and family goals. The challenge of measuring the impact of participation focused interventions is setting goals and finding measures to capture both attendance and engagement from the child’s perspective. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is frequently used to set goals and measure outcomes but does not consider levels of attendance and engagement.

Summary: Participation is a difficult construct to measure. There are tools available aimed at measuring participation, but they capture the parent/carer voice rather than the child’s. The recent publication of national survey studies on the impact of DCD provides valuable data in support of the development of participation focused services in multiple countries. Future research should continue to explore ways of capturing the child’s voice in measures of participation and continue to drive a better understanding of how participation focused practice can help mitigate some of secondary consequences reported in recent impact data.