University of Sheffield, UK.
J Atten Disord. 2023 Dec;27(14):1618-1629. doi: 10.1177/10870547231188923. Epub 2023 Jul 27.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. Although the literature has explored the parental impact of living with a child diagnosed with ADHD, less is known about the ADHD assessment journey for children and the parental experiences of this. A recent service evaluation suggested that exploring parental perceptions of a child's ADHD assessment pathway could be beneficial in understanding experiences, gathering ideas for future service development, and collecting service user feedback.
The aims were to (a) explore the broad experiences of parents/caregivers accessing the ADHD assessment pathway for their child and (b) explore experiences of remote appointments during the assessment process in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twelve parents of children who had experienced an ADHD assessment within a CAMHS pathway participated in a telephone-based semi-structured interview. This involved gathering experiences of the CAMHS ADHD pathway from a parental perspective. The evaluation implemented a qualitative design. Qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis.
Results revealed seven main themes. Regarding general experiences of the pathway, parent/caregiver interview responses indicated a sense of relief, feeling understood, and the service being child-focused during the assessment. Difficulties were highlighted within the themes, such as long waiting lists impacting on the child and parent as well as lengthy assessments. In reference to COVID-19 and remote/telephone appointments, interview responses indicated some positives of having remote appointments, such as comfort and convenience. Thus, the strengths of face-to-face communication were highlighted.
注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是一种神经发育障碍，其特征是冲动、注意力不集中和多动。尽管文献已经探讨了与被诊断患有 ADHD 的孩子一起生活的父母的影响，但对于孩子的 ADHD 评估过程以及父母的经历却知之甚少。最近的一项服务评估表明，探索父母对孩子 ADHD 评估途径的看法可能有助于了解体验、为未来服务发展收集想法，并收集服务用户的反馈。
目的是(a) 探讨父母/照顾者为孩子接受 ADHD 评估途径的广泛经验，以及(b) 探讨在考虑 COVID-19 大流行的情况下，评估过程中远程预约的经验。
12 名曾在儿童和青少年心理健康服务（CAMHS）途径中经历过 ADHD 评估的儿童的父母参与了基于电话的半结构化访谈。这涉及从父母的角度收集对 CAMHS ADHD 途径的经验。该评估采用了定性设计。通过主题分析对定性数据进行分析。
结果揭示了七个主要主题。关于途径的一般经验，父母/照顾者的访谈回答表明在评估过程中有一种解脱感、被理解的感觉和以孩子为中心的服务。在困难主题中突出了一些困难，例如长等待名单对孩子和父母的影响以及冗长的评估。关于 COVID-19 和远程/电话预约，访谈回答表明远程预约有一些好处，例如舒适和方便。因此，强调了面对面交流的优势。
