Novita Research Report - 2004 to 2007 - Novita Children's Services

17ResultsImplicationsThe results indicated QUEST 2.1 scores were not significantly different between the twooccasions for the entire sample. QUEST 2.1 was therefore found to be reliable over a twoweek interval for children aged seven to 17 years. Closer examination of group effectsfrom the Mixed Models analysis revealed membership in the group with disabilities didnot significantly affect the reliability of QUEST 2.1 and there were no significant differencesbetween reliability for the entire sample and for the group with disabilities. These resultsindicate QUEST 2.1 is reliable over a two week interval for children aged seven to 17 yearswith physical disabilities.For clients – QUEST 2.1: children’s version can be used reliably by children to give feedbackon their levels of satisfaction with technology items they may use.For services – QUEST 2.1 is a new tool that can be used to gain reliable information fromchildren and their families.StatusCompletedEvaluation of measurements, interventions, programs andclinical practice> InterventionsNovita staff contributors highlighted in boldProject titleContributorsSummaryMethodAn exploratory study of effects of hydrotherapy for children with a disability: Views ofparents and therapistsMargarita Tsiros, Gisela van Kessel (University of South Australia), Susan Gibson,Dr Parimala RaghavendraHydrotherapy is a commonly used physiotherapy technique. There is some evidence thathydrotherapy is effective in the adult population, however there is a lack of quality researchamong the paediatric population. This project studied parents’ and therapists’ perceptionsof the benefits and disadvantages of hydrotherapy for children with physical and/or multipledisabilities. It also identified similarities and differences in the perceptions of these groups.Two focus groups were conducted:• Group 1: Three parents of Novita clients who were participating in an early interventionhydrotherapy group.• Group 2: Three therapists (two physiotherapists and a speech pathologist) at Novita whoparticipate in early intervention hydrotherapy groups.Parents and therapists were asked about the definition of hydrotherapy, what theyunderstood to be the benefits and disadvantages of hydrotherapy, potential barriers toaccess/attendance, structure of groups, and carryover effects. Completed transcripts weresent to each participant for verification. Three of the researchers independently analysedverbatim transcripts and extracted emergent themes. Researchers then concurred to confirmextraction of similar themes.