ABSTRACT

The 2011 Census estimated that 2.7 crore people have one or anyone of the form of disabilities in India. Cerebral Palsy (CP) is one of the disabilities recognized by major acts in India. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition affecting movement and muscle coordination. Assistive devices play an important role in improving the functionality of persons with CP. Since the clinical manifestations of persons with CP differ from person to person, some of the existing commonly used assistive devices need to be upgraded and a few new devices are to be invented to fulfil their needs. The present study attempts to gather feedback from the parents pertaining to their need for developing new assistive devices for persons with CP. Data was collected from 67 parents of persons with CP. The snowball sampling method was used to select the samples. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the data. Three individual interviews and six group interviews were conducted. The recorded data was transcribed and thematically analysed using the predetermined themes. The findings of the study indicate themes related to the requirements of new assistive devices in different domains like mobility, positioning, communication, self-care activities, etc. It also mentions the modifications required for the existing assistive devices used by persons with CP. Keywords: cerebral palsy, assistive devices, parental perspectives, upgradation
Publication date: 01/05/2024

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2024/May/MS_IJBPAS_2024_9076.pdf

Download PDF
https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2024/13.5.9076