Health information and education needs for youth with complex communication needs during the Covid-19 pandemic: rehabilitation professionals’ perspectives

1Citations
Citations of this article
53Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Purpose: The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities faced by persons with complex communication needs (CCN) in accessing health information and education. This study reports on the perspectives of South African rehabilitation professionals regarding access to health information and education for youth with CCN. Materials and methods: Two asynchronous online written focus groups were conducted with 15 rehabilitation professionals. Participants’ contributions were thematically analysed. Results: Participants reported that youth with CCN faced a variety of challenges when accessing health information, related, amongst others, to the format and quality of the information. Participants reported on strategies they had successfully used to support comprehension of health information and the youth’s communication during healthcare encounters. Participants suggested various Covid-19-related and general health topics of value to youth, as well as a variety of multimodal and multilingual presentation formats to make health information accessible. This information was used in the development of accessible health information resources that are now freely available on the authors’ institutional website. Conclusions: The results confirmed that there is an urgent need to make accessible health information available in order to include South Africans with CCN in health services during the pandemic and beyond. Implications for rehabilitation Health information and education (including information and education provided with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic) has often not been accessible to youth with complex communication needs (CCN). South African rehabilitation professionals reported on a variety of challenges that youth with CCN face when attempting to access health information and education, but also reported on strategies that had helped to support them in this. They also highlighted Covid-19-related and general health topics that would be of value to youth, and suggested a variety of information formats and strategies to make health information more accessible. This information can assist in the design of appropriate and accessible health information resources for youth with CCN and other individuals who experience communication challenges.

References Powered by Scopus

6592Citations
14131Readers

This article is free to access.

Get full text
3210Citations
1911Readers
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Tönsing, K. M., Dada, S., Bastable, K., & Samuels, A. (2023). Health information and education needs for youth with complex communication needs during the Covid-19 pandemic: rehabilitation professionals’ perspectives. Disability and Rehabilitation, 45(10), 1619–1628. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2022.2069872

Readers over time

‘22‘23‘24‘2509182736

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 8

53%

Lecturer / Post doc 3

20%

Researcher 3

20%

Professor / Associate Prof. 1

7%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Nursing and Health Professions 8

53%

Medicine and Dentistry 3

20%

Social Sciences 2

13%

Arts and Humanities 2

13%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 10

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free
0