Effectiveness of Caregiver Education on Increasing Oral Feeding For Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Scoping Review of the Literature - Abstract
Aims: Objectives include to examine current studies on the effectiveness of caregiver education used to increase oral feeding of children with developmental disabilities. Specific objectives were to identify the types of available evidence and to identify any knowledge gaps. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted of the literature related to caregiver education and oral feeding difficulty with children with developmental disabilities. Five databases were searched; articles included were on children with developmental disabilities aged one to twelve years old, describing caregiver education as an intervention aimed at improving feeding.
Results: 23 articles were included in the analysis. The studies ranged from three Level I, four Level II, fifteen level III, and one Level IV based on Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Hierarchy. Critical analysis of the studies on effectiveness showed themes that caregiver education had a positive effect on caregiver empowerment, caregivers were able to follow through with demonstrated feeding and behavioral strategies, and both home or group delivered interventions were effective. Conclusion: Based on the review and analysis, there is strong support for all the major themes: empowering parents through education with children with developmental disabilities and feeding needs, using different service delivery of parent education, and parents learning behavioral interventions to implement.