Background: Research on communication intervention with young children provides support for the involvement of primary caregivers in their child’s language intervention (Kaiser, & Roberts, 2011; Roberts, & Kaiser, 2011). Research suggests that the perceptions of these caregivers regarding their child’s language development and their role in the language development process are important to their willingness to use intervention strategies (Kaiser, & Hancock, 2003; Leffel, & Suskind, 2013). Furthermore, studies suggest that the severity of child language difficulties may impact on these perceptions (Brady et al., 2006; Romski et al., 2011). However, there is a lack of research on how primary caregivers from non-Western, non-English-speaking backgrounds perceive their child’s language development and understand their role. Aims: The study investigated the perceptions of isiXhosa-speaking primary caregivers of children who receive speech-language therapy regarding their child’s language development across three expressive language groups (i.e. not speaking, speaking in single words and phrases, speaking in sentences). Perceptions on the basis of duration and frequency of the speech-language therapy, and child age are also described. Methods: Thirty primary caregivers of young children (30 to 70 months) completed the South African Caregiver Perception of Language Development (SA-CPOLD) in a structured interview format using the Talking Mats™ visual framework (Murphy, & Boa, 2012). These results were compared across three child expressive language groups, as determined by scores on the Mullen Scale of Early Learning, and language sample analysis data (i.e. mean length of utterance and number of different words). Results: The primary caregivers of the children who were speaking in either single words and phrases or speaking in sentences demonstrated more positive perceptions than caregivers of children who were not speaking, although this did not reach a conventional level of significance. Caregivers of children across the three expressive language groups acknowledged their child’s language difficulties, however primary caregivers of the children who were non-speaking agreed more with statements related to their child’s difficulty. Perceptions did not appear to differ on the additional variables (i.e. duration and frequency of speech-language therapy, and child age). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that isiXhosa-speaking caregivers’ perceptions of their child’s language skills are related to their expressive language skills to some extent and that these caregivers are able to accurately report on their child’s language difficulties. Keywords: caregiver perceptions, disability and developmental delays, early language intervention, isiXhosa, language delays, South Africa / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MAAC / Unrestricted

This study examines how knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with experiences of caregivers working with AD patients at long-term care facilities in the United States. This study was found understanding the relationships is important to provide a quality of healthcare services for optimal health outcomes among AD patients. This study employed a cross-sectional paper-pencil survey to collect the data. The survey asked participants to self-report quantitative information as to social demographics, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes (independent variables) of AD, and perceived experiences (dependent variable) of caregivers working with AD patients at long-term care facilities. This result showed positive relationship between the perceived experience of the AD caregivers and all the three variables. While the relationships were not significant. The findings of the study provided implications for scale work practice, police, and research.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate perceptions on quality of care delivered by service providers to families of children with disabilities, attending the cerebral palsy (CP) clinic at Dr George Mukhari hospital. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine the demographic and socio-economic profile of the caregivers; 2) establish how the caregivers perceive the provision of care as identified by the subscales of the Measure of Processes of Care-South African (MPOC-SA version), by Saloojee (2007); and 3) determine the overall perception of caregivers with regard to their satisfaction from the service they received. METHODS: A correlation study design using structured interviews was used. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants who gave informed consent to participate in the study (n=67). Caregivers completed the demographic and the MPOC-SA version questionnaire through structured interviews conducted by two trained assistants. The researcher completed the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) for each child diagnosed with cerebral palsy guideline and eliciting developmental and functional abilities of the child using the Neurodevelopmental therapy (NDT) clinical approach. RESULTS: Ninety-nine percent of caregivers were females, and approximately 45% of them were 30 years old and younger. Just over forty percent of them were married, with 34.33% married to the father of the child. Thirteen percent of caregivers were exposed to tertiary education, and 34.33% of families were receiving less than R500 per average month. Caregivers perceived that the MPOC-SA domains of Respectful and Supportive Care together with Providing Specific Information to have been experienced to a great extent at 5.34 (±0.61) and 5.09 (±0.82) respectively. The weak domains were perceived to be Providing General Information, Enabling and Partnership and 2.34 (±0.95) and 3.26 (±1.10) respectively. Satisfaction with services rendered was at an average of 5.33 (±1.00). There was a positive correlation between Satisfaction and of the all the MPOC-SA domains. CONCLUSION: Service providers need to improve on the interpersonal aspects of service delivery to ensure healthcare provision of high quality with better outcomes and higher satisfaction for users. The identified aspects that need immediate improvement are ‘Providing General Information’ and ‘Enabling and Partnership’ respectively. Providing General Information focuses on activities that meet caregivers’ general information needs such as grant applications, accessing assistive devices, and other resources that may support the family of a child with cerebral palsy such as non-governmental organization. Enabling and Partnership focus on activities where caregivers are involved in decision-making about the appropriate treatment for the child, and in giving input, sharing their concerns and opinions about services they receive.

Les anomalies morphologiques sévères ou congénitales sont l'une des principales causes de morbidité et de mortalité infantile. Certaines de ces pathologies diagnostiquées en anténatal sont difficilement compatibles avec une survie postnatale. Il arrive que des femmes choisissent, malgré tout, de poursuivre la grossesse et les soins palliatifs périnatals apparaissent comme une des réponses à apporter. Ils constituent à l’échelle internationale un nouveau domaine de pratique clinique avec des dilemmes décisionnels. Il importe d’identifier les déterminants qui influencent les modes de résolutions de ces tensions éthiques. Notre travail explore les perceptions et les pratiques des professionnels susceptibles de faire sens à une demande de poursuite de grossesse en intégrant dans leur démarche l’incertitude inhérente à la période postnatale. Cette réflexion vise à questionner la normativité effective dans la pratique de l’interruption médicale de grossesse notamment, face aux dilemmes et divergences qui alimentent les prises de décisions et les pratiques professionnelles autour des soins palliatifs néonatals. Notre recherche s’articule autour de trois axes : premièrement, étude qualitative, des perceptions d’experts de la périnatalité vis-à-vis des pathologies fœtales létales et des soins palliatifs périnatals : représentations, opinions et pratiques professionnelles ; ensuite, enquête, à l’échelle nationale, de la démarche palliative périnatale à partir des perceptions et des pratiques professionnelles ; et en dernier lieu, approche éthique de la démarche palliative à partir du diagnostic d'anomalies fœtales létales et des pratiques professionnelles en médecine périnatale. / Severe or congenital morphologic anomalies are one of the main causes of infantile morbidity and mortality. Some of these antenatally diagnosed pathologies are difficult to get compatible with postnatal survival. In this context, some women choose to continue with pregnancy. Subsequently, perinatal palliative care seems to be a constructive answer to offer in such situations. It constitutes, at international level, a new clinical practice where decision dilemmas exist (prognostic uncertainty, prolonged survival, and attachment to the infant). It might be necessary to identify the factors that can affect the way of dealing with these ethical tensions. Without any national data, our work explores the perceptions and professional practices susceptible to influence parental request for continuing with pregnancy, despite the uncertainty corresponding to the postnatal condition of a newborn with lethal pathology. This thinking aims to question and debate the normativity that is to be effective especially in medical termination of pregnancy, confronting the dilemmas and divergences that affect decision taking and professional practice in neonatal palliative care.Our research revolves around three perspectives: Firstly, and at a local level, qualitative study of expertise perceptions of perinatality regarding lethal fetal pathologies and perinatal care: representations, opinions and professional practices; secondly,and at a national level, investigation of initiatives taken in perinatal care based on perceptions and professional practices; thirdly,ethical approach to the medical care as inspired by these lethal fetal pathologies and professional practices in perinatal medicine.