Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing the F-Words for Child Development Framework in Irish Children's Disability Services: Perspectives of Service Providers

AIMS: The F-Words for Child Development framework offers a holistic approach to supporting and guiding child development. This study explores the early implementation and experiences of Irish service providers (SPs) in applying the framework, and the facilitators and barriers to its use in children's disability services. METHODS: an online survey featuring standardized tests and custom-designed questions. Descriptive analysis was applied to demographic data, while thematic analysis, facilitated by NVivo 20, was utilized to examine responses to open-ended questions. RESULTS: 62.5% of respondents reported to be using the framework in their practice, while 36.5% used it within their team. Four themes emerged from SPs: (i) Understanding and openness to the F-Words; (ii) Initial application of the F-Words; (iii) Barriers to application; (iv) Integrating the F-Words to an Irish context. CONCLUSION: SPs' reported varying experiences of using the F-Words within children's disability services in Ireland. They highlighted the need for additional training, enhanced resources, and organizational-level support to effectively implement the framework in practice.