Goal Setting for Cognitively Impaired Children

There were 20 parents who were recruited as participants from January 2015 to April 2015. Three individuals who were approached did not participate due to inconvenience and lack of time. Participants were recruited until no new additional goals were provided, and data saturation was reached. Data saturation was continuously assessed by the student research assistant who recorded field notes of the frequency and types of goals that were raised by parents. Data saturation was identified to be reached based on a discussion with the research team, and sufficient information was acquired to demonstrate common goals that were frequently identified by parents in the clinic.
The characteristics of subjects (i.e. children and adolescents) are presented in Table 1. Sixty nine percent of subjects classified as levels IV or V according to the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS). In addition, 70% of subjects were classified as levels IV or V according to the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS). Cognitive impairments were assessed informally by the healthcare professional team. Children and adolescents were identified to have cognitive impairments based on their level of understanding during discussions in clinical appointments, such as their processing level of information, responsiveness to questions, and communication with healthcare professionals. All subjects were identified to have cognitive impairments, which may affect their ability to understand and set goals in a discussion with their parents and healthcare professional team.Table 1

Subject characteristics

Characteristics	Subjects, N = 20
Age (in years
mean ± SD	11.2 ± 4.3
Age range	5 -17
Gender, n (%)
Male	13 (65)
Female	7 (35)
GMFCS, n (%)
level IV	10 (50)
level V	10 (50)
MACS, n (%)
level I	1 (5)
level II	2 (10)
level III	3 (15)
level IV	5 (25)
level V	9 (45)
aCFCS, n = 19, n (%)
level I	3 (16)
level II	2 (10)
level III	1 (5)
level IV	6 (32)
level V	7 (37)
Cognitive impairments	20 (100%)

^aData unavailable for one participant