Liza Hopkins

Exploring ambient technology for connecting hospitalised children with school and home

Children undergoing long-term hospital care face problems of isolation from their familiar home and school environments. This isolation has an impact on the emotional wellbeing of the child. In this paper we report on research that explores the design of technologies that mitigate some of the negative aspects of separation, while respecting the sensitivities of the hospital, school and home contexts. We conducted design workshops with parents, teachers and hospital staff and found that there was a strong desire for mediated connection, but also a significant need to protect privacy and avoid disruption. In response we designed a novel technology that combined an ambient presence with photo-sharing to connect hospitalised children with schools and families. This paper reports on the field trial of the technology. The research provides new insights into how technology can support connectedness and provides a foundation for contributing to the wellbeing of children and young people in sensitive settings. Hospitalised children suffer isolation which impacts their well-being.Attempts have been made to use off-the-shelf ICT to ameliorate isolation.Sensitive contexts at hospital and school make the use of existing technologies problematic.We trialled lightweight communication technology for hospitalised children.Ambient awareness and photo-sharing show promise for creating social connectedness.

Embedding learning in a paediatric hospital: changing practice and keeping connected

This paper, the final paper in the Keeping Connected special issue, presents the key findings of the overall study and focuses on the challenging process of re-imagining a hospital setting as a community of learning for young people in light of these findings. The paper focuses on young people as learners within the overarching themes emanating from the Keeping Connected research such as normalcy, diversity and communication. Taking up Slees notion of ‘the irregular school’, we describe how one setting in a large urban paediatric hospital in Victoria, Australia, is transforming the way in which children and young people are supported to maintain their connectedness to learning. We reflect on the evidence of the Keeping Connected project to inform the ways in which a hospital can respond to young peoples needs as learners and offer a model of inclusion as a form of cultural change in this important out-of-school setting. Directions for future research are also offered.

Utilising technology to connect the hospital and the classroom: Maintaining connections using tablet computers and a ‘Presence’ App

Reduced school attendance is a recognised risk factor for poorer outcomes both educationally and across a wide range of social, economic and personal indicators throughout life. Children and young people with chronic health conditions often have poor or disrupted records of school attendance due to periods of hospitalisation and time spent recuperating at home. Keeping students with health conditions connected to school and learning is critical to avoid a trajectory of school absence, disengagement from schoolwork and peers, reduced achievement in education and early school leaving. This paper reports on a research project conducted in Victoria, Australia, to connect 7–12 year old hospitalised children with their school using a specially designed Presence App run on a mobile tablet computer. Nine hospitalised students, their families and schools participated in the trial. Results indicate that the Presence App helped to create and maintain a social presence for the absent child in the classroom and keep students at risk of disengagement connected to school. Our research also showed that while the ‘Presence’ App complemented existing information and communication technology such as videoconferencing and email by connecting hospitalised student and school, it had added advantages over these modes of communication such as creating an on-going classroom presence for the hospitalised child while respecting privacy and attempting to minimise disruption in the hospital and classroom settings.

How does ‘community’ facilitate early childhood service use in a multicultural Australian suburb?:

Participation in early childhood development and education services is an important contributor to how well children develop throughout their early years and their success later in life. This article reports on research which examined how multicultural groups identify and use their community connections to share information and inform decision-making about and access to early childhood services. Taking a qualitative approach, the research involved focus groups with families with young children from various cultural backgrounds. The project found that families defined their community as a collective of people, generally from a like cultural background, but they also identified geographical area/place as an important contributor to their community connections. The research also identified that the way in which culturally diverse groups define and interact within their community influences their level of knowledge about available early childhood services and the credibility they place on information they receive. The findings suggest that this subsequently influences their decision-making about which early childhood services they access. The interconnectedness of these factors suggests that the broader social environments of young children are critical in their receiving high quality early development and learning opportunities. Understanding the interconnections between the people and places which constitute communities is essential for early years service providers to engage the families most in need.

Hospital-based education support for students with chronic health conditions

Objective To examine the evidence for best practice in educational support to hospitalised students and describe the existing supports available across each Australian state and territory. Methods A descriptive approach to the diversity of current practice and a review of the published evidence for best practice. Results We have constructed a model of best-practice in education support to hospitalised students. We found that education support services in each state met some of the criteria for best practice, but no one state service met all of the criteria. Conclusions All Australian states and territories make provision for hospitalised students to continue with their education, however the services in some states are closer to the best-practice model than others. What is known about the topic? It is well known that children and young people living with health conditions are at higher risk of educational underachievement and premature disengagement from school than their healthy peers. Although each state and territory across Australia offers some form of educational support to students during periods of hospitalisation, this support differs widely in each jurisdiction in fundamentals such as which students are eligible for support, where the support is delivered, how it is delivered and who coordinates the support. Published evidence in the literature suggests that the elements of good practice in education support have been well identified but, in practice, lack of policy direction can hinder the implementation of coordinated support. What does this paper add? This paper draws together the different models in place to support students in hospital in each state and territory and identifies the common issues that are faced by hospital education support services, as well as identifying areas where practice differs across settings. It also identifies the elements of good practice from the literature and links the elements of theory and practice to present a model of education support that addresses the needs of students with health conditions in an integrated and child-centred way. What are the implications for practitioners? Education support has developed over many decades in a variety of different forms across the states and territories of Australia. This paper brings together for the first time the published evidence for good practice in this area with existing models of practice to identify ways in which both healthcare professionals and education professionals can work together to improve the health, well being and education of children and young people living with health conditions.

Review of the evidence base in relation to early childhood approaches to support children in highly disadvantaged communities for the Children’s Ground Project

The Children’s Ground project aims to develop a place-based approach to support children and their families in highly disadvantaged communities. The project approach is informed by research and evidence, recognising the multiple and multi-level influences on children’s development and the need to support the role of communities in improving outcomes for children. The review of the evidence base, undertaken by the Centre for Community Child Health in collaboration with the Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute, begins by outlining the changing social and environmental conditions and the influence of these changes on vulnerable children and families. The report then discusses actions undertaken to address these challenges and the reasons why these actions have failed. Next, key factors enabling optimal outcomes for children and contemporary Australian and international evidence-based interventions and approaches that support vulnerable children are examined. The review concludes by summarising the research on the financial and social costs of doing nothing to intervene and improve outcomes for children. In summary, the review endorses the development of a place-based approach with a number of key strategies that simultaneously address families’ immediate needs for support (the foreground factors) and the broader conditions under which families are raising young children (the background factors). The approach needs to promote wrap around, integrated services that are responsive to and driven by the community. Focus must also be given to how services are delivered rather than what is delivered. In order to implement the approach, it is critical that a robust governance structure or entity capable of coordinating and supporting the many stakeholders and services involved is established and a long-term financial and policy commitment is made. Key messages encapsulating broad themes from the literature, supported by concluding statements, have been developed to enable clear communication to a variety of audiences.

Education for children with a chronic health condition: an evidence‐informed approach to policy and practice decision making

Children managing chronic health conditions face many obstacles which can impede their learning during periods of hospitalisation. In one particular hospital, a team of educators deemed it necessary to take a personalised learning approach in order to maintain students’ educational progress, namely making use of individual learning plans (ILPs). This team adopted an evidence-informed practice (EIP) approach to the issue in order to persuade administrators of the need for change. The successful implementation of the EIP approach led to the inclusion of the ILP form in patients’ medical records, which is thought to be a first for Australia. Although EIP is regarded highly by practitioners and policy makers, there can be difficulties when implementing this approach. This study aims to identify the enabling features that permit EIP to be successfully implemented and to examine the ways in which EIP can lead to improved practice.

Learning at the Health and Education Interface

Nelson Mandela’s words at the Launch of the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund in Mahlamba Ndlopfu Pretoria South Africa back in 1995 continue to resonate with theorists, politicians, policy makers and practitioners across jurisdictions and through many years.

Introducing Physical Education to Hospital Learning--Can Patients Participate?.

Children and young people with chronic health conditions are at greater risk of school absence and poorer educational achievement than their healthy peers. A range of strategies are implemented in home, school and hospital settings to improve the connection of these children and young people to their educational pathways, yet gaps in provision remain. Physical education (PE), while widely recognised as bringing important educational, social and health benefits to students, is not often included in hospital-based education support. This is due to a range of factors which result from the unique confluence of students with health conditions, use of generalist rather than specialist teachers in hospitals and the physical constraints on learning in the health care setting. This paper reports on the evaluation of an initiative to introduce PE for students in hospital.

Schools and adolescent mental health: education providers or health care providers?

Purpose – The issue of mental health amongst students in the senior years of secondary schooling is one which has recently gained traction in mainstream media and public discourse across Australia. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the ways in which schools and other education providers are responding to mental health issues amongst their students both proactively (for prevention) and reactively (for referral and treatment). Design/methodology/approach – The project took a qualitative research approach to gathering data from student support staff based in schools and out-of-school learning settings, through a focus group methodology. Findings – The project found that despite policy rhetoric and research evidence supporting pro-active, curriculum integrated, early intervention to prevent and avoid mental illness and mental distress amongst secondary school students, most schools still take a reactive, piecemeal approach to prevention of mental illness and provision of mental health care. Individual s...