The Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Interventions for Children with Visual Impairments, Their Parents/Guardians or Educators: A Systematic Scoping Review

Abstract

A body of research indicates the importance of interventions for promoting the development and progress of children with visual impairments. However, the research available on suitable interventions for this population is relatively sparse. The purpose of this review is to identify, collate and appraise the available research evidence on implementation barriers and facilitators of interventions for children with visual impairments, their parents/guardians or educators. A systematic scoping search of peer-reviewed literature (including grey literature)

Using the Medical Research Council framework for developing a logic model to support children with visual impairments in their learning environments

“…A previous systematic review revealed several barriers to supporting children with VI in their home and school learning environments, including a lack of both teacher and parental training, a lack of knowledge about visual impairments, and a scarcity of research on children with VI and additional disabilities (Yeşilkaya et al, 2019). This review reported that collaborations between children, their parents/guardians, educators or health and support services and tailored practices contribute to planning successful strategies for meeting the individual needs of children with VI (Yeşilkaya et al, 2019). Thus, in view of the limitations identified in the literature, the present work aims to develop a logic model for parents/guardians, teachers, and children with VI who attend preschool or primary school by using the MRC framework for complex interventions.…”

“…However, some limitations exist regarding the development of comprehensive support strategies (Brambring et al, 1996; Chen, 2014) and these arise because there is no one‐size‐fits‐all comprehensive approach for this targeted population. A previous systematic review revealed several barriers to supporting children with VI in their home and school learning environments, including a lack of both teacher and parental training, a lack of knowledge about visual impairments, and a scarcity of research on children with VI and additional disabilities (Yeşilkaya et al, 2019). This review reported that collaborations between children, their parents/guardians, educators or health and support services and tailored practices contribute to planning successful strategies for meeting the individual needs of children with VI (Yeşilkaya et al, 2019).…”

“…Given that the stakeholders have worked with children with VI and their families in the Northern Ireland context, their perspectives provided valuable insight into the collected data; accordingly, the importance of the contribution of stakeholders is emphasised in the MRC framework (Craig et al, 2006). Their perspective was also used to improve the logic model and to address the issues identified as knowledge gaps in the literature (Yeşilkaya, 2019; Yeşilkaya et al, 2019). The final version of the logic model can be seen in Figure 2.…”

Editorial

“…This article, in the form of a scoping review, is an excellent example of why this link is critical to all practitioners, as it aims to "identify, collate and appraises the available research evidence on implementation barriers and facilitators of interventions for children with visual impairments, their parents/ guardians or educators" which can then lead not only to integrated working but also lead to positive changes in future practice (Yesilkaya et al, 2019, p.1).The second article by Flynn (2019) relates to the impact of austerity measures, arising from the Irish economic recession in 2008 and beyond, on intellectually disabled young people and their families. The intention, as with Yesilkaya et al (2019), is to lead to positive changes in future practice. Flynn (2019) uses a Framework Method of analysis applied to transcripts produced from a Biographical Narrative Interpretative Method (BNIM) of interviewing, across a…”

“…The second article by Flynn (2019) relates to the impact of austerity measures, arising from the Irish economic recession in 2008 and beyond, on intellectually disabled young people and their families. The intention, as with Yesilkaya et al (2019), is to lead to positive changes in future practice. Flynn (2019) uses a Framework Method of analysis applied to transcripts produced from a Biographical Narrative Interpretative Method (BNIM) of interviewing, across a…”