Parents must play a lead role in managing children with Cerebral Palsy- Physiotherapist

Mr Kenneth Nangai, a Ugandan physiotherapist is advocating that parents of children with cerebral palsy must lead in the management of the disorder

He said that therapy is no longer straight jacket and should be fused into the daily routine of the child to ensure maximum results

“The practice where parents took their children with cerebral palsy to the hospital for therapy to be done for them no longer works, it does not take into consideration the parents well-being, we should look at new ways of rehabilitating children with cerebral palsy apart from taking them to the hospital,” he said.

Mr Nangai is in Ghana as part of programme called Support Tools Enabling Parents (STEP) that aims at improving the functionality and quality of life of children with cerebral through improved assessments and goal setting.

This project is funded by Liliane Foundation a Dutch organization that supports children and youngsters with disabilities who live in poverty to develop and use their talents with the aim of contributing to the quality of lives for children with cerebral palsy.

Mr Nangai who is being hosted by the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy in Ghana has interacted with over 40 parents and caregivers of children with cerebral palsy while advising them on what was practically possible for them to do with their children.

At a meeting with the parents of the Special Mothers Group, he said usually families raising children with cerebral palsy bear the biggest challenge of addressing the day to day needs of the child such as feeding, toilet training and general functional abilities.

Parents must therefore be empowered to work effectively to rehabilitate their children with cerebral palsy

“We should stop referring to children with cerebral palsy as being sick or patients, they are not sick, they are only limited in their functional abilities because of their condition and parents must be supported to play their role of improving their functionalities

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project, said the programme serves as a platform to link families raising children with cerebral palsy to the limited services

“We try to put families in touch with help through our advocacy programme and we have facilitated the training of some mothers in various enterprises to enhance their lives.