Exploring Allied Health Models of Care for Children with Developmental Health Concerns, Delays, and Disabilities in Rural and Remote Areas

In this scoping review, we address the gap in knowledge about allied health models of care for children with developmental needs in rural and remote areas. Despite the importance of healthcare access for healthy child development, these regions often lack appropriate services, negatively impacting health outcomes.

We followed PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, systematically searching 8 databases and 106 grey literature sources up to May 2023. We independently screened the results, and data were synthesized using the Institute of Medicine’s quality domains.

We identified 25 citations from five predominantly Western countries, describing various models of care, including screening services, role substitution, consultative services, and online-based services. These models generally improved the quality of healthcare across most domains, with effectiveness being the most frequently reported benefit, though safety was not commonly addressed.

The review concludes that while multiple models are in use and appear to improve care quality, it is unclear if any single model is superior. This highlights the need for further research to explore the effectiveness of different models.

Read the Publication here.

Reference: Gosse G, Kumar S, Banwell H, Moran A. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21 (4):507.

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