Community Outreach with Families of Young Children: Practices and Impacts in Quebec, Canada

Building Families’ Capacities: Community Forums with Parents and Occupational Therapists

“…In other words, it is time to focus on building the capacity of the people who are with the children everyday so that they can help the children do what they wish to do in a way that makes sense for them. Multitiered service delivery (Bazyk, 2011) and local services offered in partnership with the organizations and settings where children and families evolve (Roy et al, 2021) should be considered. A service offer of this kind supposes that occupational therapists provide: (1) universal services targeting all children and the key actors in their environment; (2) services targeting children presenting challenges despite the universal services deployed; and (3) more intensive services adapted to the needs of children with ongoing challenges.…”

“…The offer of flexible conditions and means of communication emerges as another essential factor in building the capacities of families. This is not surprising since the rigidity of services is a major challenge for many families ( Roy et al, 2021 ). Flexibility requires therapists to take into account the work commitments of parents, the schedule of different services received simultaneously, and transportation issues ( Phoenix et al, 2019a ; Rodger & Keen, 2017 ).…”

“…Community Outreach is an example of such strategy. Roy et al (2021) demonstrated that the presence of a community worker in a disadvantaged area helped families develop greater trust and confidence in the services available for their children. Other examples include paying attention to the language in which the services are offered, the location where they are offered as well as the knowledge and perspectives held by different underserved communities regarding the services available.…”