Developing an Assessment Tool for Post-Surgical Paediatric Rehabilitative Care in Tanzania: an Interprofessional Approach

Abstract

Purpose: Located in Arusha, Tanzania, The Plaster House provides rehabilitative services to children receiving surgical care for treatable disabilities. This article describes a set of outcome measurements developed in a collaborative relationship between an evaluation team from The Plaster House staff and St. Catherine University faculty, focused on effectively and efficiently collecting post-operative evaluation and outcome data from a rehabilitative care facility for children with treatable disabilities.

Method: From seven care pathways utilised for surgically treatable disabilities (cleft lip and  palate, spina bifida, skeletal fluorosis, osteomyelitis, burns, clubfoot and hydrocephalus), an interactive process led to the development of a medical assessment tool for monitoring and evaluation with limited electronic health record and staffing capacity.

Results: The medical assessment tool serves multiple purposes for the rehabilitation programme, including monitoring participants’ progress, evaluating the effectiveness of current practices, and sharing data with stakeholders. The tool includes collection of demographic and background information, one to three diagnosis-specific indicators to measure progress, and three questions related to typical development (activities of daily living, play, and social interaction).

Conclusion and Implications: Due to the delayed ability to conduct a site visit, the evaluation team relied heavily on effective communication to sufficiently relay challenges and successes in developing and implementing the tool. The proposed medical assessment tool developed by an interprofessional team has the potential to feasibly capture post-operative outcome measurements during rehabilitative care.