Assessing Computer-Assisted Education for Non-hospitalized Children with Learning Disabilities in Al Wakrah Hospital Child Development Center, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)

Abstract

Computer-assisted education technologies are commonly being used nowadays by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)'s pediatric multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team to promote learning and development of cognitive, sensory and motor skills for children with disabilities. Multi-disciplinary team services are delivered through individually tailored care plans aimed at developing each child's level of function and their quality of life. However, researches have shown that use of this advance technology comes with opportunities and challenges for both clinicians and patients, specifically non-hospitalized children with learning disabilities.  With the intent of maximizing positive outcomes of the devices and its applications used, the researchers would like to gain insight on the selection and use of computer-assisted education technologies for non-hospitalized children with learning disabilities in HMC. The study will utilize mixed method sequential explanatory design to depict of the current practice in the use of computer-assisted education technologies by health professionals in their management of non-hospitalized children with learning disabilities.  An adopted descriptive survey questionnaire tool and a qualitative phenomenological approach through individual interview will be conducted to gather data in this study. Responses will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to reveal what devices and applications are currently used in HMC for educating children with learning disabilities and what factors affect the use of computer-assisted education applications by these health professionals. Results of this study may serve as reference for health professionals, administrators and future researchers in developing strategies, frameworks and tools on technology selection and usage for their current services.