Addressing Children’s Needs and Evaluating Rehabilitation Outcome After Spinal Cord Injury: The Child Needs Assessment Checklist and Goal-Planning Program

J Spinal Cord Med, 2007 · DOI: · Published: January 8, 2007

Spinal Cord Injury Healthcare Pediatrics

Simple Explanation

Spinal cord injury in children has lasting effects on them and their families. Rehabilitation programs should be customized to the child's developmental stage and address their changing needs as they grow. The Child Needs Assessment Checklist (ChNAC) helps assess and address the needs of young individuals within their family and community context. This study aims to check if the ChNAC is useful in planning rehabilitation goals and measuring results for young people. The study reviewed past ChNAC scores to see if the goal-planning program effectively met the rehabilitation needs of child patients. The results showed improvements in most areas, suggesting the ChNAC's value in rehabilitation planning and outcome assessment.

Study Duration

1993 through 2006

Participants

33 young people with SCI

Evidence Level

Retrospective review

Key Findings

1
The Child Needs Assessment Checklist (ChNAC) is a practical tool for planning rehabilitation for young people after a spinal cord injury.
2
The pediatric goal-planning program shows effectiveness in achieving positive rehabilitation outcomes.
3
Improvements were demonstrated in all areas except Psychological Issues, which showed a slight decrease in percentage achieved score.

Research Summary

This study evaluates the utility of the Child Needs Assessment Checklist (ChNAC) and goal-planning program in planning rehabilitation goals and evaluating outcomes for young people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The study involved a retrospective review of ChNAC scores for 33 children and adolescents and found improvements in 9 of 10 areas assessed, suggesting the effectiveness of the goal-planning program. The authors conclude that the ChNAC is a practical tool for rehabilitation planning and outcome assessment, but further research is needed to confirm these findings with larger samples and to assess the reliability and validity of the ChNAC.

Practical Implications

Rehabilitation Planning

The ChNAC can be used to plan rehabilitation goals for children with SCI.

Outcome Assessment

The ChNAC can be used to assess rehabilitation outcomes for children with SCI.

Further Research

Future studies should focus on the reliability and validity of the ChNAC.

Study Limitations

1
Small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings.
2
Lack of a control group makes it difficult to definitively attribute improvements to the goal-planning program.
3
The scoring system for younger children may introduce a confound due to parental assistance, potentially affecting the assessment of rehabilitation gains.

Your Feedback

Was this summary helpful?

Back to Spinal Cord Injury