Current Research:

Children with Disabilities can Participate in the Planning of Habilitation if the methods and knowledge of the Staff are Improved

Mental health and participation are universal aspects of functioning well as a human being. Children and young people with disabilities are relatively often reported to have lower mental health and participation than other children.

Linda Sjödin is an occupational therapist and PhD student, and investigates how children themselves can participate in the planning of their own habilitation.

"Within habilitation, most measures are planned in collaboration with the parents, but the children themselves are not always involved. Something they actually have a right to", she believes.

"If team competence increases and new methods are adapted, then the probability increases that the children can become more involved in the habilitation process together with their guardians. In the long run, it can therefore lead to increased mental health for children with disabilities".

Recently, Linda Sjödin participated in an Occupational Therapy Forum, a national conference for occupational therapists, to talk about her research.

"I talked about the research for mental health and participation in the habilitation process for children and young people with disabilities", she says.

"Mainly I talked about my first study in the thesis, about why participation is important, about the professional knowledge of the occupational therapist versus the common competence of the habilitation team".

The preliminary results from Linda Sjödin's study show that several efforts can be made to increase children's participation and that the key to this lies with the staff.

For more information, contact Linda Sjödin

Linda Sjödin works as an occupational therapist in habilitation with children and young people in Jönköping, at the same time she is working on a doctoral thesis based on Jönköping University within the research group CHILD. The research project collaborates with different regions and universities and works around the concept of inclusive research.

Follow Linda Sjödin on Instagram: @barnochungdomsarbetsterapeut