Eyes on communication: A Delphi study to reach consensus on clinical practice guidelines for eye-gaze control technology for people with cerebral palsy

  • Petra Karlsson (Speaker)
  • Griffiths, T. (Speaker)
  • Elegast Monbaliu (Contributor)
  • Michael T. Clarke (Contributor)
  • Kate Himmelmann (Contributor)
  • Saranda Bekteshi (Contributor)
  • Abigail Allsop (Keynote speaker)
  • René Pereskeles (Speaker)
  • Claire Galea (Contributor)
  • Margaret Wallen (Speaker)

Activity: Talk or presentation typesOral presentation

Description

Background and Objective(s) - Limited literature exists to guide clinical decisions
about trialling, selecting, implementing and evaluating eye-gaze control technology. This study aimed to build stakeholder consensus to
inform the content of clinical practice guidelines.

Study Participants & Setting - One hundred and twenty-six participants completed Round 1 of the survey. Participants came from 17 countries (38% from UK), including clinicians (71%), educators (11%), family (10%), and people with cerebral palsy (2%).

Materials/Methods - A 3-round online Delphi survey was developed and circulated using a snowball sampling, in consultation with an international Stakeholder Advisory Panel which included people with cerebral palsy and their families. Round 1 invited responses to 6 questions seeking information to inform clinical practice guidelines. Responses were coded thematically, and themed statements sent to participants in Round 2 for rating the importance of their inclusion in these guidelines. Items were retained for Round 3 if ≥70% of respondents rated them as “of critical importance”, and
Results - Over the 6 questions 1,995 codable units were derived; resulting in 148 codes. The most frequent responses were:
- Eye-gaze control technology should be trialled with people of any age and skill level
- At assessment, it is important to establish the availability of support and demonstrate use of eye-gaze control technology
- Training for the user, family and other supporting staff is critical in carrying out a device trial
- Practice is best in frequent, short sessions
- Goal Attainment Scaling is recommended to measure outcomes

Conclusion/Significance - Outcomes of this project can inform the process of selecting and implementing eye-gaze control technology, and help define skills and resources required to support a person with cerebral palsy to use eye-gaze technology for communication, play, learning and participation.
Period9 Sept 2019
Event titleCommunication Matters: International Conference 2019
Event typeConference
LocationLeeds, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational