Service Use Patterns by Children With Down Syndrome in a Canadian Region

John D McLennan; Casey Fulford; Sophia Hrycko; Virginie Cobigo; Munazza Tahir

doi:10.1352/1934-9556-61.1.79

Service Use Patterns by Children With Down Syndrome in a Canadian Region

Intellect Dev Disabil. 2023 Feb 1;61(1):79-88. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-61.1.79.

Authors

John D McLennan¹, Casey Fulford², Sophia Hrycko³, Virginie Cobigo⁴, Munazza Tahir⁵

Affiliations

¹ John D. McLennan, Department of Psychiatry and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
² Casey Fulford, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
³ Sophia Hrycko, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario & Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁴ Virginie Cobigo, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario & Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵ Munazza Tahir, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

PMID: 36706005
DOI: 10.1352/1934-9556-61.1.79

Abstract

Children with Down syndrome require services from different sectors over time to optimize health and development, however, there is little information on longitudinal, cross-sector service use. Parents of children with Down syndrome attending a Canadian children's hospital participated in semistructured interviews covering life-time multiple sector service use. Five key service patterns were identified: (1) primary care physicians playing a circumscribed role; (2) a marked shift in public habilitative service receipt from development agencies in the preschool years to exclusive school delivery after school entry; (3) families obtaining private services to address gaps from public sector services; (4) a prominent role for parents to identify additional services; and (5) service variability as a function of timing and severity of medical comorbidity.

Keywords: Canada; Down syndrome; children; service use.

©AAIDD.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Canada
Child
Child, Preschool
Comorbidity
Down Syndrome* / therapy
Humans
Intellectual Disability*
Parents