Service Disruptions in Early Intervention Amid COVID-19: Understanding Challenges Faced by Families and Providers.
Background Background: Infants at risk for developmental delays require early intervention (EI) services to support their development. However, many families face barriers to receiving services, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective Objective: This qualitative study examined how...
| Publicado en: | Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 1 - 18 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Open Journal of Occupational Therapy
Summer2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=196213265&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 196213265 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 21686408 HDL1 jtl: Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) issn: 21686408 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Summer2026 vid: 14 iid: 3 pid: 94241 pub: Open Journal of Occupational Therapy place: Kalamazoo, Michigan artinfo: ui: 196213265 196213265 196213265 10.15453/2168-6408.2526 196213265 ppf: 1 ppct: 17 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Service Disruptions in Early Intervention Amid COVID-19: Understanding Challenges Faced by Families and Providers. aug: au: Nguyen, Tiana T. Mong, Samantha Lainez, Juliana Embrey, Domenique affil: University of California, San Francisco - USA sug: subj: COVID-19 Pandemic Infant Development Disorders Therapy Developmental Disabilities Caregiver Attitudes Evaluation Attitude of Health Personnel Evaluation Health Services Accessibility Evaluation Early Childhood Intervention Human Qualitative Studies Continuity of Patient Care Quality of Health Care Thematic Analysis Personnel Shortage Insurance, Health Communication Purposive Sample Convenience Sample Semi-Structured Interview Data Analysis Software Telehealth Family California Social Workers Case Managers Occupational Therapists Physical Therapists Speech-Language Pathologists ab: Background Background: Infants at risk for developmental delays require early intervention (EI) services to support their development. However, many families face barriers to receiving services, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective Objective: This qualitative study examined how COVID-19 impacted access to EI therapy services from the perspectives of families and EI providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study aimed to identify existing barriers and new pandemic-specific challenges to inform strategies for improving continuity and quality of EI care during future service disruptions. Methods: Semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted with caregivers of eligible infants and EI providers. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to identify key themes related to access barriers. Results Results: Participants described long-standing barriers, including limited understanding of EI, provider shortages, insurance complexities, and insufficient bilingual therapists, that worsened during the pandemic. The shift to virtual service delivery introduced additional challenges, such as limited access to technology and reliance on caregiver digital literacy. Participants emphasized the need for clearer communication, service flexibility, and proactive system-level planning. Conclusions Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of policy changes aimed at enhancing workforce capacity, streamlining processes, and improving digital and linguistic accessibility to ensure equitable EI access during future disruptions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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