Co-designing complex therapy interventions with parents as partners in the care of children with cerebral palsy: An Experience-based Co-design study in England.

Massey et al. (2024) ran an Experience-based Co-design project in England. They asked parents of children with cerebral palsy and their therapists to co-create therapy materials. The team met in workshops, shared stories, and voted on what mattered most. No one tested if the new tools worked yet; they only built them together.

The group agreed on three final products: a parent booklet, a set of partnership principles, and short online lessons. These items reflect what families said they need to feel confident doing therapy at home. No scores or stats are reported; the paper only describes the finished tools.

John-Bathelt et al. (2019) scoured the literature on EarlyBird parent courses for autism. They found parents love the classes, but solid proof from trials is still missing. Jill’s team moves one step earlier: instead of testing, they first ask parents to design the course itself.

Hahlweg et al. (2008) took a different path. They gave mothers a Triple P booklet plus seven brief phone calls and ran a real trial. Kids’ behaviour improved a little and the gains lasted six months. Jill’s study skips the trial phase and lets families write the booklet first.

Dababnah et al. (2025) recently showed that nine Zoom sessions of the WHO Caregiver Skills Training helped East-African immigrant mothers of autistic children. They proved online parent education can work across cultures. Jill’s online lessons aim for the same easy access, but they are still waiting for an outcome test.

If you coach parents of children with cerebral palsy, you now have a ready-made set of tools built by families themselves. Try opening your next session by showing the co-designed booklet and asking, “Does this match what you need?” Use the partnership principles to set clear roles. You can run a quick pilot with one family and track what happens, adding the missing outcome piece.