Advancements in Rehabilitation for Children with Cerebral Palsy or Acquired Brain Injury

Dear Colleagues,

Cerebral Palsy (CP) results in the progressive loss of motor functions, with a negative impact on daily activities and participation. Rehabilitation for children with Cerebral Palsy or Acquired Brain Injury requires a multidisciplinary approach to promote the independence of these children, both functionally and psychologically, and increase the quality of life of both the children and their families. Therapy services that are family-centered, consider the needs of the child and focus on structured play/recreational activities and health/well-being that may enhance the development of children with CP. Therapists viewed as the 'movement and activity experts' play a key role within this multidisciplinary team. The main aim of rehabilitation is to support a child with CP to achieve its potential in terms of physical independence and fitness levels within its community, by minimizing the effect of its physical impairment and improving the quality of life of the child and its family. Family-centered rehabilitation therapies were positively associated with greater participation in family/recreation activities and walking endurance. Parental perception that rehabilitation therapies met children's needs was associated with greater participation in family/recreation activities. Structured play, recreational activities, and health/well-being are important for self-care and participation when planning rehabilitation therapy. The focus of ICF is on the function, movement, and optimal use of the child's potential, and ICF uses physical approaches to promote, maintain, and restore physical, psychological, and social well-being within all environments of the child including home, school, recreation, and community environments. It further entails six F-words of function and fitness focused on self-care in younger children with an increased emphasis on mobility and ability levels according to age. Therefore, rehabilitation for different aspects of the functional levels is needed to improve participation in life across the six F-words framework and to take into consideration context, age differences, family's expectations, life requirements, environmental needs, and cultural differences. Many studies have positively supported formal parental training and the use of assistive technology to promote several F-words. A menu of intervention ingredients was provided, with suggestions for future research, to incorporate them into a real context within the family and clinical practice.

Today, we expect your studies will provide evidence and information to the academic and clinical communities on all these issues.

We are organizing a Special Issue, entitled “Advancements in Rehabilitation for Children with Cerebral Palsy or Acquired Brain Injury”, in the Journal Children. This Special Issue offers an opportunity to publish high-quality, interdisciplinary research that contributes to knowledge in this area. Suitable articles include research articles (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and evidence-based interventions focused on research in Children with a special focus on the overall (re)habilitation of Cerebral Palsy.

Prof. Dr. Dido Green
Prof. Dr. Mintaze Kerem Günel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cerebral palsy
• brain injury
• rehabilitation
• ICF
• 'F'-words
• technology
• AI/ML