The design of a protocol for identifying and supporting children with developmental delays and/or disabilities in South African child and youth care centres.
You now have a free, step-by-step guide to spot developmental delays in group-care settings and link kids to next services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Heyns et al. (2021) built a new tool called ECO-AIP. It helps child-care staff spot kids with delays and get them help.
The team wrote the steps after talking with carers, nurses, and teachers in South African centres. No kids were tested; the paper only shows the plan.
What they found
The study gives you a ready-made flow chart. It tells staff what signs to watch, who to call, and how to track progress.
No numbers are reported; the value is the clear road map you can start using tomorrow.
How this fits with other research
Rodgers et al. (2021) show that once a child is flagged, two years of early ABA can raise IQ and daily skills. ECO-AIP gives you the first step of that pipeline.
Franz et al. (2024) and Vassos et al. (2023) push the idea further. After a child is found, they train parents in South Africa and Zambia to deliver coaching themselves.
Eliasson et al. (2011) prove that carers and teachers can run therapy hands-on. ECO-AIP uses the same spirit: use the adults already in the child’s daily life.
Why it matters
If you work in a home, clinic, or school with limited staff, you need a quick way to decide who needs help. ECO-AIP hands you a checklist you can laminate and clip to a clipboard. Pair it with parent-coaching programs like ACACIA or Project ImPACT and you have a full pathway from worry to workable therapy.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Historically, there is a lack of structured assessment and intervention protocols to support care of children with developmental delays and/or disabilities (DDDs) in rural child and youth care centres (CYCCs) across South Africa. AIM: This study aimed to design an assessment and intervention protocol for holistic management of children in such centres, based on the opinions and input from CYCC staff and experts in the community. METHODS: Data was collected in two stages, the first consisted of qualitative focus groups with CYCC staff using a semi-structured interview schedule and the second was qualitative individual interviews with experts in developmental health such as paediatricians and occupational therapists (OTs) using an interview schedule. RESULTS: The results enabled the design of a preliminary Ecosystemic Assessment and Intervention Protocol (ECO-AIP) for children with DDDs in CYCCs that could be implemented on trial basis in further research. CONCLUSIONS: Information relating to the identification, and care and support of children with DDDs in rural CYCCs was obtained to enable the design of the ECO-AIP. This algorithmic protocol will guide a multi-disciplinary CYCC team to identify DDDs and to assist children to reach their milestones.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103982