Healthcare professionals' perspective on the delivery of care to children with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and communication with their parents.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand healthcare providers' perspective and responsivity to families' needs in rehabilitative care delivery for children with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

METHODS: Three focus group sessions were conducted to explore and understand multidisciplinary healthcare professionals' (Hcps) perspectives about the care they deliver to parents of children with ABI. Convenience sampling was used to recruit healthcare providers (total sample size = 15) from a large rehabiliation centre of an urban setting in western Canada. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically.

RESULTS: Findings from this study revealed Hcps' perspectives on their day-to-day delivery of care and furthered our understanding of their challenges. It also increased our awareness about the rewards that Hcp gain as a result of their work. Five main themes emerged: (1) Getting back to normal; (2) Hsps' roles and perception; (3) Challenges in practices; (4) Practice rewards; (5) a focus on solutions/ideas for better healthcare delivery.

CONCLUSION: Hcps' perspectives on their day-to-day delivery of care to families who have a child with ABI enhance our knowledge about the existing challenges and complexities. Findings from this study have significant implication for rehabilitation services in making rehabilitation goals more achievable for families of children with ABI.