Multi-agency working for children with physical difficulties. An investigation into the processes and effects of joint planning

Context Children with physical difficulties are increasingly included in mainstream schools in the United Kingdom. These children are likely to have many agencies supporting them and helping to meet their needs, for example physiotherapists and occupational therapists. In recent years the working practice of many professionals has changed from clinic based practice to a school focused model. The purpose of this research is to measure the effectiveness of multi-agency support for children with physical difficulties who attend mainstream schools. Current legislation encourages multi-agency working practices but gives little guidance as to how to do this for the maximum benefit of the children. Methods The participants were two groups of children with physical difficulties aged between six and ten years of age, who attended mainstream schools. For one group of children the professionals involved jointly developed the child's individual education plan (IEP). For the other group professional planning was completed separately. The intervention ran for a period of six months. The children's progress was measured both before and after the intervention using the School Function Assessment (SFA), a comprehensive measure of functional skills. Functional skills are the non-academic skills required for participation in the academic and related social aspects of an educational programme. The self-esteem of the children was measured pre- and postintervention using the Self Image Profiles for Children (SIP-C). The research also investigated the processes involved in multi-agency working through focus group discussions. The children's views were collected through interviews and drawings. Results There were small differences between the functional skills scores for the two groups of children. Although the differences were not statistically significant the children whose programmes were jointly planned made more progress in particular for cognitive/behavioural tasks. The gains in self-esteem were statistically significant with the ...