Early Intervention and Families in Rural Victoria

Abstract

Families are increasingly understood as inter-related systems where each component interacts with other components in diverse ways. Contemporary research on families which have children with disabilities emphasises the complexity of families and the futility of searching for one characteristic of a family as predictive of family outcomes. The current study investigated the relationship between family needs, family supports, and demographic information for rural families who were eligible for early intervention services. The study did not attempt to review specific early intervention services, but rather to associate the characteristics of services which families found most and least effective. The results are discussed in terms of the practice of providing family-focused models of service delivery.

This project was funded by the Golden North Centre, Spastic Society, Bendigo

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