AQUA CHILD (pre-Aquatic Questionnaire Assessing Child Development)

Dr. Merav Hadar Frumer (Physical Therapist, Senior Aquatic-therapist)

 

Who among us, aquatic professionals, hasn't asked themselves from time to time: "How can I adapt children's activities in the aquatic atmosphere so that it promotes their functioning in daily life, and how can I assess this and obtain measurable results for progress?"

For many years, I have been searching for the appropriate tool that would answer these questions.

 

There are currently excellent questionnaires that assess children's skills in the aquatic environment; however, these questionnaires do not help us, the therapists and instructors, define goals for promoting the child's functioning and quality of life in daily living.

 

When I became familiar with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, the ICF, I understood that this was the solution. Why? Because the ICF framework is:

Universal and non-judgmental.

• Enables documentation and follow-up in uniform language.

• Allows goal setting, outcome measurement, and tracking of changes.

• Empowers people to emphasize the child's quality of life and functioning rather than their difficulties and limitations.

For these reasons, I concluded that this was the right tool for developing the questionnaire I was dreaming of.

 

To this end, we rolled up our sleeves and embarked on a 6-year journey during which I completed a doctorate with the help of amazing people from around the world. The product of the doctorate is a questionnaire based on research results that examined the impact of aquatic activities on children's functioning. The questionnaire's language is adapted to ICF language, and it consists of questions selected through meticulous work and a consensus process among 14 professionals.

 

The questionnaire's name - AQUA-CHILD - is an acronym for: pre-Aquatic Questionnaire Assessing Child Development.

The AQUA-CHILD has been researched and found to be:

• Reliable and valid.

• Provides comprehensive information about the daily functioning of children with developmental delays, ages 6-12.

• Focused on setting goals for daily functioning.

• Can be completed independently by parents or through an instructor interview.

• Provides instructors with early information about the child, thus, freeing up valuable time for practical assessment and establishing contact with the child.

 

It's important for me to emphasize - this is a questionnaire suitable for all children with developmental delays and for all aquatic activities - therapy, swimming, group activities, and more.

 

The questionnaire includes three parts:

1. General information about the children.

2. Information about children's functioning in various areas of daily activities and social participation.

3. Intended for the instructor - summary of information and setting functional goals based on which appropriate exercises and activities in water will be selected.

Questionnaire completion time: 20-30 minutes.

 

I am very proud of this questionnaire and happy to share it with you.

I invite you to use it and enjoy it.

 

The questionnaire can be downloaded as a Drive document through the following link: https://did.li/Download-AQUA-CHILD-MeravHF

 (click on "use template" button)

 

or as a PDF document on this page.

 

I would appreciate comments, questions, and feedback.

My email: merav1hf@gmail.com

 

Yours, Merav