The feasibility of family-centred early intervention for children with disabilities in mainland China: Practitioners' perceptions.

Background: Family-centred practice (FCP) has become a recommended practice for early intervention services for children with disabilities in many countries. However, its feasibility in Chinese context has been unclear. This study is the first to explore the perceptions of early intervention service practitioners about the implementation of FCP in mainland China.

Methods: Focus groups were employed to collect data from 37 early intervention practitioners who attended a workshop about FCP in Wuhan, China and two officers from the provincial disabled persons' federation. The data were analysed thematically.

Results: Four themes were identified: (a) family-centred early intervention is possible, (b) traditional concepts are not friendly towards FCP, (c) parents do not collaborate and (d) financing and personal resources are not sufficient to implement FCP. Chinese practitioners agreed with the philosophies of FCP; however, there was concern that widespread implementation may meet conceptual and practical challenges.

Conclusions: The results highlighted practitioners were optimistic and keen for FCP implementation in the Chinese context, but to do so across China may still be some way in the future.