|
|
|
|
|
Linking Birth Defects Surveillance with Early Intervention Services
Tamara Ponimanska 5, Lyubov Yevtushok 6, Wladimir Wertelecki 6
1 Executive Committee of the City of Rivne
2 Rivne OMNI-Net and Regional Diagnostic Center
3 Pahinets Developmental and Early Interventions Center
4 Rivne Parental Organizations for Children with Special Needs
5 Rivne State Humanities University
6 Ukraine OMNI-Net and University of South Alabama
Background: It is self-evident that among the most prevalent, serious and burdensome birth defects is mental subnormality. Among the early goals of the OMNI-Net Birth Defects Initiative (1998) in Ukraine was to link the program with a center for early interventions inclusive of orphaned young children. In 2001, following a series of promotional events and workshops, a parental organization arose in Rivne to advocate for the creation of an early intervention center for infants and young children with Down syndrome and other developmental disorders. In 2002, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine granted funding to formalize plans, which in 2003 were adopted by the Rivne City Council.
Method: The Rivne OMNI-Net center provided training materials, organizational templates and general support to parents and community leaders advocating the creation of what became the "Pahinets Developmental Center" (PDC). International partners from Australia, U.S.A., Poland and other nations contributed training material and participated in training events.
Results: In 2004, the Rivne City Administration donated physical facilities (75 m2) and funded four full-time positions. Currently, the PDC operates in a renovated stand-alone building and has 66 full-time professionals, staff and support personnel (inclusive of laundry, kitchen, etc.). PDC provides day-care services and programs to 50 children with special developmental needs between the ages of 2 months to 8 years. For normative purposes, the center also provides pre-school education to 40 “normal children” up to the school age of 6. Regarding early interventions directed at orphans, the achievement have been quite modest. Students from the College of the Rivne State Humanities were offered an elective program to gain field experience in child development by visiting regularly a specific orphan over the span of an academic school year. Student-orphan pairs, according to anecdotal reports, developed bonding and positively impacted the behavioral range of infants. However, bureaucratic barriers and lack of resources remain to be resolved
Conclusions: The implementations by the PDC can serve as a replication template for other regions. Encountered bureaucratic barriers and lack of resources to introduce programs to promote a fuller development of orphaned infants and children are also lessons learned relevant to other regions.
See:
