Kine Johansen

As a physiotherapist and researcher, I advocate for early detection and timely intervention for children with motor difficulties such as cerebral palsy (CP) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) through quality improvement, evidence-based practice and implementation initiatives. My research concerns how to assess infants' motor performance, how a lack of motor ability affects the individual and how we can sustainably and effectively offer treatment to school-aged children with DCD.

As a physiotherapist and researcher, I advocate for early detection and timely intervention for children with motor difficulties such as cerebral palsy (CP) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) through quality improvement, evidence-based practice and implementation initiatives.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) affects approximately 5-6% of children and frequently co-occur with other neuropsychiatric disorders such as ADHD and autism. Awareness of DCD is lacking and few studies have followed the development of DCD from childhood to adulthood. We hope to shed light on some aspects through the project "DCD in adulthood". In January 2021, we completed the last data collection and we are now in the process of analyzing and synthesizing the data.

Motor function is a significant predictor of participation, and children with DCD participate in fewer and less varied activities than children with adequate motor skills. Although effective intervention for DCD is available, few of the approximately 80 000 Swedish school-aged children with DCD receive intervention for their motor difficulties. Considering scarce resources and high needs, identifying efficient methods for providing sustainable services, as well as minimizing the costs, without losing effectiveness, is critical. In the project " Developing a school-based intervention to improve participation among children with Developmental Coordination Disorder", the aim is to develop and test a school-based physiotherapy service delivery model for children with DCD in primary school. The project runs from 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2023 and is funded by the Swedish Research Council.