Hospice and Hurricanes: Providing Home Health Patients and Their Families Choices During Mandatory Evacuations

Presentation given at Georgia Southern University Research Symposium 2021.

Background: Children with Down Syndrome (DS) may receive physical and occupational therapy intervention to increase motor skill development and functional independence. Therapeutic effectiveness and outcomes are positively correlated with levels of compliance to therapist-prescribed home programs. Within the DS community, caregiver involvement (usually a parent or guardian) is a primary variable affecting home program compliance. A dearth of research on this topic identified a need to investigate home program compliance among caregivers to facilitate maximal treatment efficacy. This study specifically explores pediatric physical and occupational therapists’ approach to home program prescription and their impressions on caregiver compliance.

Methods/Approaches: Research for this project is ongoing. Data points are being gathered from a Qualtrics survey administered to pediatric physical and occupational therapists. Results: Preliminary findings suggest that strong barriers to compliance include home activity programs that are deemed too extensive, which is consistent with prior research by Lorden et al. (2020) that demonstrated a positive association between caregiver buy-in and compliance. Conclusion: Our study posits that convenience of home program activities as well as access to and comprehension of performance instructions will be positively associated with therapist perceptions of increased caregiver compliance.