A Scoping Review of Formal Care to Children with Special Needs during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Title

A Scoping Review of Formal Care to Children with Special Needs during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Creator

Latha R.S.; Karalam S.; Mathew J.; Joseph S.

Description

The Covid-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented closure of direct service for children with special needs (CSNs), which shifted service to remote mode. This scoping review analyzed the strategies adopted by different formal care services for CSNs, their strengths and weaknesses, and the challenges faced by the formal care providers (FCPs). This study identified relevant articles through academic databases and Google searches using appropriate search strings and keywords. It included ten journal articles (n=10) and eight pieces (n=8) of grey literature through a meticulous selection process and extracted data. This review drew results by collating the descriptive numerical data analysis and qualitative thematic analysis and interpreting them. Reporting incor-porated all the possible items recommended by the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. This review demonstrated that pediatric rehabilitation adopted the telehealth approach and that special education changed to remote learning. When childcare programs in the USA functioned according to specific guidelines, residential care in South Asian countries faced a financial crunch. FCPs faced personal and professional challenges that required systematic training to deal with pandemic situations. This scoping review made suggestions for relevant policy formulations for equitable and effective service delivery to CSNs during pandemic situations, and it exposed new avenues for research. 2022 Authors.

Source

International Journal of Special Education, Vol-37, No. 1, pp. 1-14.

Date

2022-01-01

Publisher

SPED Ltd

Subject

childcare programs; formal care providers; pediatric rehabilitation; residential care; special education

Coverage

Latha R.S., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Karalam S., Department of Sociology & Social Work, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Mathew J., Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kerala, Kochi, India; Joseph S., Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kerala, Kochi, India

Rights

All Open Access; Gold Open Access

Relation

ISSN: 8273383

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.52291/ijse.2022.37.22

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85139704163&doi=10.52291%2fijse.2022.37.22&partnerID=40&md5=91803b5adf53b01d89ee8d4c825f103f