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. 2023 Mar 30:11:983680.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.983680. eCollection 2023.

The potential of COPCA's coaching for families with infants with special needs in low- and middle-income countries

Schirin Akhbari Ziegler  1 , Rosane Luzia de Souza Morais  2 , Lívia Magalhães  3 , Mijna Hadders-Algra  4
Affiliations

The potential of COPCA's coaching for families with infants with special needs in low- and middle-income countries

Schirin Akhbari Ziegler et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Infants at high biological risk of or with a neurodevelopmental disorder run a high risk of delayed school readiness. This is especially true for infants in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This perspective paper first summarizes evidence on intervention elements that are effective in promoting family well-being and child development in infants at high biological risk in high income countries. Crucial elements are family centeredness, goal orientation, a home setting, focus on activity and participation, and challenging the infant to explore the world and the own body by means of self-produced movements. The studies revealed that coaching as applied in COPCA (COPing and CAring for infants with special needs) is a pivotal element determining the success of intervention.The paper continues by describing COPCA and its coaching. Next, we report on two pilot studies addressing COPCA's implementation in Brazil. Finally, we discuss why COPCA is a promising early intervention program for infants at high biological risk of neurodisability in LMICs: COPCA is adapted to the families' strengths and needs, it empowers families and promotes child development therewith facilitating school readiness. Moreover, it may be delivered by tele-coaching therewith eliminating families' burden to travel to distant intervention clinics.

Keywords: COPCA; coaching; early intervention; family-centered; high risk infants; low-and middle-income countries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in GMFM-88 percentage scores in the goal areas of the three children with CP of the Brazilian case series study during the 7 weeks of Family-Centered Care intervention (led by a COPCA coach). Figure reprinted from reference 38 with permission of Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento (Curibita, PR, Brazil: DOAJ).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Developmental trajectories in percentile rank scores of the AIMS of the seven preterm infants before and after 8 weeks of COPCA intervention (results of the second Brazilian pilot study).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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