Can, Want and Try: Parents' Viewpoints Regarding the Participation of Their Child with an Acquired Brain Injury

BACKGROUND: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a leading cause of permanent disability, currently affecting 20,000 Australian children. Community participation is essential for childhood development and enjoyment, yet children with ABI can often experience barriers to participation. The factors which act as barriers and facilitators to community participation for children with an ABI are not well understood. AIM: To identify the viewpoints of parents of children with an ABI, regarding the barriers and facilitators most pertinent to community participation for their child. METHODS: Using Q-method, 41 parents of children with moderate/severe ABI sorted 37 statements regarding barriers and facilitators to community participation. Factor analysis identified three viewpoints. RESULTS: This study identified three distinct viewpoints, with the perceived ability to participate decreasing with a stepwise trend from parents who felt their child and family "can" participate in viewpoint one, to "want" in viewpoint two and "try" in viewpoint three. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicated good participation outcomes for most children and families, however some families who were motivated to participate experienced significant barriers. The most significant facilitators included child motivation, supportive relationships from immediate family and friends, and supportive community attitudes. The lack of supportive relationships and attitudes was perceived as a fundamental barrier to community participation. SIGNIFICANCE: This research begins to address the paucity of information regarding those factors that impact upon the participation of children with an ABI in Australia. Findings have implications for therapists, service providers and community organisations

Experimental evidence for a role of prolactin in modulating avian clutch-size

Many coral reef and open-ocean fish have mirrored sides built from stacks of guanine crystals. Because the underwater light field is approximately symmetric around the vertical axis, vertical mirrors are an excellent form of camouflage. Mirrors of this orientation reflect light from the same angle of elevation (though from the opposite azimuth), so the reflected image matches what would be seen if the animal were transparent. However, most surfaces affect the polarization of light that is reflected from it. Smooth surfaces strongly affect on the polarization of the reflected light, and rough surfaces depolarize the light. Either effect can be seen by animals with polarization vision, thus breaking the camouflage. We examined how the silvery surfaces of fish affect the polarization of light in two ways. First, using a custom-built in situ polarization imaging system, we photographed various species of fish with mirrored sides on the Great Barrier Reef. Second, using transfer matrix theory, we modeled how the polarization of light reflected from stacks of guanine platelets depended on the number of plates and the distribution of platelet thicknesses and angles. The in situ imaging showed that many fish species were less conspicuous to animals with polarization vision than would be predicted. The optical modeling showed that, while stacks of 10 or 20 platelets strongly affected the polarization of light for most angles of incidence, stacks of 50 or greater platelets with a moderate amount of randomness in both platelet thicknesses and angles reflected nearly 100% of both polarization components. Thus, these structures acted as polarization-preserving reflectors that would provide camouflage to both animals with normal vision and polarization vision. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a polarization–preserving reflector in nature

Ich bin gesund, solange ich Sport treiben kann ! : Eine Studie zu subjektiven Gesundheitskonzepten jugendlicher Sportler

Etude des relations entre les conceptions de la santé (psychologique, sociale, hygiène de vie) et la pratique sportive chez des garçons et filles âgés entre 14 et 17 ans. Globalement les jeunes sportifs se sentent plus en forme que ceux qui ne font pas de sport, mais ne se plaignent pas moins de maladies

Parents' actions, challenges, and needs while enabling participation of children with a physical disability: a scoping review

Contains fulltext : 108967.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Pediatric rehabilitation considers Family-centered service (FCS) as a way to increase participation of children with a physical disability in daily life. An important principal is that parents greatly contribute to their child's participation at school, at home, and in the community. However, it is unclear what kind of information is available from literature about what parents actually do to support their child's participation and what problems and needs they experience? Hence, the aim of this study was to provide an overview of the actions, challenges, and needs of parents in enabling participation of their child with a physical disability that is neurological and non-progressive in nature. METHODS: Scoping review with extensive literature search (September 2011) and a thematic analysis to synthesize findings. RESULTS: Fourteen relevant articles revealed two major themes: 'parents enable and support performance of meaningful activities' and 'parents enable, change and use the environment'. Each theme holds a number of actions (e.g. choosing the right type of meaningful activities for facilitating social contacts) and challenges (e.g. negative attitudes of other people). Less information is available about the needs of parents. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that parents apply a broad range of strategies to support participation of their children. They experience many challenges, especially as a result of constraints in the social and physical environments. However, this review also shows that little is known about needs of parents in facilitating participation. As Family-centered service (FCS) philosophy is all about the needs of the child and the family, it is essential to further investigate the needs of the parents and to understand if and to what extent they wish to be supported in enabling their child's participation in daily life