Parents’ experiences of conducting a goal-directed intervention based on children’s self-identified goals, a qualitative study
Sammanfattning
Aim/objective: To explore and describe parents’ perceptions and experiences of conducting a
goal-directed intervention focused on children’s self-identified goals.
Material and methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were performed with nine parents
(8 mothers, 1 father). All the parents had participated actively in conducting a goal-directed
intervention addressing their children’s self-identified goals. The interviews were analyzed using
qualitative content analysis.
Results: From a parental perspective, working on children’s self-identified goals was a positive
experience. The findings revealed three categories: Goals challenged the parents describes the
parents’ experiences of the complexity of goal setting. The intervention demanded an intensive
and flexible parental engagement; here the parents expressed the importance of active parental
engagement, which for some parents could be challenging. The child’s personal goals gave more
than anticipated describes the parents’ experiences of how the children’s personal goals positively
influenced the children’s self-esteem, increased the children’s motivation for practice, and
helped the children develop more than the parents had anticipated.
Conclusions and significance: In the parents’ experience, goal-directed intervention comprehensively
relies on their engagement. Follow up’s from the occupational therapist motivated the
parents and their own child’s personal goals gave them more than they could have expected.
This indicates the importance of supporting parents and letting children actively participate in
the goal setting process.