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Background: Children with developmental disabilities may need support with motor skills such as balance improvement, cognitive skills such as vocabulary learning, or social skills such as adequate interpretation of emotional expressions. Digital interactive games could support the standard treatments. We aimed to review clinical studies which investigated the application of serious games in children with developmental disabilities. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and Scopus on 05 May 2019 limited to the English language. We included people between two and 24 years of age who were affected by neurodevelopmental disorders and who received digital serious game-based medical interventions such as any computer- based or video-based games. We considered any study design reporting primary data. We used title, abstract, and full-text of journal articles to build diagnostic groups, and we described some selected specific game applications. Results: The majority of the 145 relevant studies reported on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and disabilities affecting intellectual abilities (DAIA). 30 of the 145 studies reported a randomized design. We detailed six specific applications aimed at improving abilities in children with ASD, ADHD, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. We visualized the diagnostic groups by bibliographic mapping, and limited the text to the title and abstract of journal articles. Conclusion: We identified promising results regarding anxiety reduction, stress regulation, emotion recognition, and rehabilitation. Currently, there appears to be a lack of clinical evidence that children with neurodevelopmental disorders can benefit from the application of serious games.

INTRODUCTION Throughout Europe midwives called for increasing professionalisation of midwifery during the 1980s and 1990s. While the Bologna Declaration, in 1999, supported this development in education and research, it remains unclear how other fields, such as practice, have fared so far. This study therefore aimed to explore the current state of professionalisation of midwifery in Europe. METHODS An exploratory inquiry was conducted with an on-line semistructured questionnaire. Its content was based on the Greenwood sociological criteria for a profession. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis were used to analyse the data. Participants were national delegates from member countries to the European Midwives Association. RESULTS Delegates from 29 European countries took part. In most countries, progress towards professionalisation of midwifery has been made through the move of education into higher education, coupled with opportunities for postgraduate education and research. Lack of progress was noted, in particular in regard to midwifery practice, regulation, and leadership in health care provision and education. Most countries had a code of ethics for midwives as well as a midwifery association. Based on organisational collaborations with other disciplines, the sustainability of a distinct professional culture was unclear. An increased focus on future development of midwifery practice was proposed. CONCLUSIONS Progress in midwifery education and research has taken place. However, midwives' current roles in practice as well as leadership and their influence on healthcare culture and politics are matters of concern. Future efforts for advancing professionalisation in Europe should focus on the challenges in these areas.

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