Caregivers play a crucial role in the care of children with cerebral palsy, and their practices greatly
influence the development of gross motor skills. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized
in the study. This study was conducted in the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Unit at Nasser Institute for
Research and Treatment in Cairo Governorate, Egypt. A purposive sample of 76 caregivers and their
children with cerebral palsy (age 3–12 years, gross motor level I–III) were assigned to study and control
groups. The study group underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment and received video assisted
teaching program for about eight months. Tool I: An interviewing questionnaire comprised of two
parts: caregivers- sociodemographic characteristics and children’s personal characteristics and medical
history. Tool II: Caregiver Priorities & Child Health Index of Life with Disability to evaluate caregivers
practices. Tool III: The Gross Motor Function Measure-88 is used to evaluate changes in the gross motor
functions of children with cerebral palsy. The findings revealed that 71.1% and 65.8% of the study and
control groups of caregivers were mothers with mean ages of 33.03±4.750 and 32.42±5.006 years,
respectively. Before the implementation of the video-assisted teaching program, 34.2% of the children
in both the study and control groups exhibited a total gross motor level I. After the program, this
percentage increased to 84.2%. The analysis indicated a highly significant positive correlation between
the total practices of the studied caregivers and the gross motor skills of their children with cerebral
palsy following the implementation of the program. The video-assisted teaching program significantly
enhanced the studied caregivers practices regarding care of their children with cerebral palsy, which
positively affected gross motor skills among children with cerebral palsy of studied caregivers. |
