Enteral feedings are part of the daily mealtime experience for many caregivers of children with cerebral palsy. The scope of occupational therapy practice incorporates multiple aspects of the enteral feeding process. Yet, the research in this area is very limited. The purpose of this study was to provide practitioners with better understanding of the impact enteral feedings of children with cerebral palsy have on family mealtime routines.
Using a complimentary mixed method approach, data were obtained through an online survey containing the Satisfaction Questionnaire with Gastrostomy Feeding (SAGA-8) and supplementary questions, and qualitative semi-structured phone interviews. Participants were caregivers of children with cerebral palsy who receive their primary nutrition through a gastrostomy tube.
This study's cohort consisted of n = 36, SAGA-8, and n = 6 in-depth interviews. The mean age of children of was 9.4 (6.94 SD) with a mean age of 3.4 (5.35 SD) when enteral feeding was introduced. While families' overall situations positively changed after the gastronomy tube placement, environmental barriers and length of feeding time continued to present a challenge to mealtime routines. The mixed methods data analysis revealed that successful adjustment to having a child with a gastronomy tube and problem solving are closely linked and a consistent part of mealtime experience.
Findings highlighted the necessity of comprehensive support from health professionals in achieving positive mealtime experience. Themes in this study indicated that caregivers would benefit from a professional with knowledge in the development and integration of rituals and routines to support positive outcomes.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 November 2019.
All research outputs
#6,814,732
of 24,508,104 outputs
Outputs from Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
#222
of 713 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#101,598
of 320,235 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
#3
of 9 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,508,104 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 713 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 68% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 9 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 6 of them.
