In the last forty years there has been divergent progression in the legislative and organizational implementation of early assistance to premature children and families in need of professional help. In Slovenia the most optimal model of early assistance in practice for children is still missing. (Krek, Metljak, 2011) Premature children, their parents and their families need to be aided to succeed in the following areas: health, education, social work and psychology. These children have delays in development which lead to specific special needs. Often these difficulties, obstacles or deficits are already present at birth, which is why immediate intervention is imperative. Premature babies which are the victim of the immaturity and several other factors of premature birth, are one of the youngest group of children, that lags behind in physical and mental development when compared to term born children. Results of premature birth are manifested in different neurodevelopmental disorders, which effect the motor and intellectual functions of child. In the context of development and specificities of premature infants, this study focuses on preschool prematures withj developmental delays or developmental disorders that lead to special needs in education. The early childhood period is crucial for maximizing early detection and identification of problems with which the child and the family are faced, and for the interventions appropriate assistance. Early detection is imperative to create optimal conditions for the development of the child and for the optimization of their relationship with their parents and their environment. In the field of education, the early adolescent period is very important, but it is often redundant. It represents the developmental period where an individual builds the basis for physical, cognitive, intellectual, and emotional skills as well as general life functions. Early preventive treatment of visible and expected delays and deficits in child development is more effective and beneficial than rehabilitating the child and family's improperly acquire and learned patterns of integrated functions. The goal of this study is to examine the views on the adequacy of implementation of early childhood intervention programs and the importance of criteria for implementation of early childhood intervention services (availability, proximity, affordability, interdisciplinary work and the diversity of services and assistance to early intervention) in Slovenia. The views were examined between the two groups entering the process early intervention with different relational perspective to prematures: parents of infants and professionals that provide early intervention services (paediatricians, nurses, midwives, pedopsychiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, special educators, speech therapists). The data support for this study present results of questionnaires and their interpretation. The differences in attitudes towards ECI between parents of prematures and professionals who work with them were analyzed. The sample survey included 79 parents of premature infants and 47 professionals who work within the early childhood intervetion and are in contact with premature infants. This study utilied two types of semi-open questionnaire which implement a six stage scale of relevant and important features. one. Two types were used to better characterized the experiences of the parents and the professionals. The questionnaires were designed on the basis of theoretical knowledge and are subject to copyright. With the help of the respondents, I got an insight into the practice of the existing model of the ECI, which takes place within developmental clinics in Slovenia. The group of prematures was recognized as a risk group for children with special needs. Prematures, due to the specifics of complications and premature birth characteristics, most commonly face problems in locomotive functions, therefore they are most frequently involved with development clinics (specialist doctors, physiotherapists). According to the data, all participants agreed that the model of service delivery of ECI is appropriate. The sample group is not large enough and has been taken in too short of a time period to extrapolate the results. Eligibility criteria and current implementation services of the ECI recognize all respondents as important, but the data sensitivity to individual criteria varies between groups of professionals and parents. Professionals prefer criteria which relate to the quality and the implementation of their work while parents of prematures prefer criteria which relate to the ease of access to the ECI and provision of appropriate services of the ECI. The results have also shown a trend towards larger, more frequent teamwork and multidisciplinary collaboration. There are also differences in attitudes between the professionals and parents in the views surrounding decentralization of services for child care. Contrary to experts, parents experience deficits in availability of services, frequency of ECI services, and the lack of adequately trained professionals in their region. Their is a necessity for the decentralization of aid services for premature babies and their families.
|
