Participation and Well Being Among Children and Youth With Childhood Onset Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Participation, defined as involvement in life situations, is considered beneficial to children’s development, health, and well-being. Prior research has shown that the participation of children and youth with various types of disabilities is often restricted around the globe. Factors affecting the participation patterns of those with childhood-onset disabilities are also well-documented and include personal, familial, and environmental factors.

This Special Issue hopes to advance this current body of knowledge through high-quality multi-disciplinary research that enhances our understanding of:

1) The impact of participation on subjective well-being;

2) Effective interventions to improve children’s participation and emotional well-being;

3) Knowledge translation (KT) strategies and implementation processes aimed at bringing changes in clinical practice towards a greater focus on participation for this population.

We welcome research on participation in different settings (e.g., home, school, and/or community) that focuses on but is not limited to the following lines of inquiry:

• Well-designed intervention studies aimed at improving participation and, thereby, subjective well-being, as well as longitudinal studies demonstrating participation trajectories. Pilot studies, impairment-based interventions, and exercise programs are not within the scope of this Special Issue.
• Studies examining the relationships between participation and well-being, especially those that focus on mental or psychosocial elements of well-being (e.g., mood/emotional status, self-esteem, friendships, life satisfaction) rather than solely aspects of physical well-being (e.g., fitness, energy, pain, physical functioning).
• KT initiatives facilitating the uptake of new evidence regarding participation and/or well-being in clinical day-to-day practice. Examples include KT implementation strategies or methods to evaluate participation-based practices, and studies illustrating existing knowledge-to-practice gaps.

Dr. Dana Anaby
Prof. Mats Granlund
Guest Editors

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