Preliminary findings of the study will be presented at the International Society of Early Interventi

We are pleased to announce that we will be presenting preliminary findings of our quality evaluation study of Education, Health and Care plans at the International Society of Early Intervention (ISEI) Conference that will take place in June 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden.

In the following section, please find the abstract submitted by the team for the Conference:

An analysis of the quality of the Education Health and Care plans in England: preliminary findings

Susana Castro, PhD

Olympia Palikara, PhD

Vasiliki Eirinaki

Carolina Gaona

University of Roehampton, School of Education

The 2014 Children and Families Act Part 3 in England replaces the special educational needs ‘statements’ with Education Health and Care (EHC) plans, reflecting international recommendations to approach disability as a complexity of educational, health and social issues, instead of single impairments. This aligns with the framework of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY), which systematically classifies functioning aspects, instead of diagnosis. The ICF-CY was published by the World Health Organisation in 2007 and is considered the gold standard for classifying functioning.

This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the newly developed EHC plans using the ICF-CY system, thus informing the development of higher quality EHC plans for young children in need of support. Preliminary findings will be presented, addressing in particular the percentage of Body Functions & Structures, Activities and Participation and Environmental Factors that are covered in 40 EHC plans of young children with special educational needs. Ultimately, this research will address how holistic and biopsychosocial these plans are, using a worldwide recognised system for classifying functioning and disability – the ICF-CY. Implications for policy implementation and professional practice will be discussed.

For further information in relation to the ISEI Conference, please follow this link:

https://depts.washington.edu/isei/2016conf.html