Parental Concerns and Active Participation in Home-Based Vojta Therapy for Children with Global Developmental Delay: A Qualitative Study Using Interviews and Photo-Elicitation

Sep 30, 2026

Parents of children with global developmental delay (GDD) require active involvement in therapy, especially when treatment is intensive yet delivered at home through Vojta therapy (VT) within a Home-Based Program (HBP). This qualitative case study uses semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation with a purposeful sample to explore parental perspectives on participation, initial concerns, perceived outcomes, and factors shaping adherence. Seventeen parents identified three themes: active involvement, perceived motor and functional gains, and suitability or implementation worries, concluding that benefits were recognized but should be interpreted cautiously without objective efficacy measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

Main findings

Implications

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

Early intervention and developmental delay

Neuroplasticity and intensive physiotherapy

Role of parental participation

Home-based programs and training

Vojta therapy rationale and debate

Article Parental Concerns and Active Participation in Home-Based Vojta Therapy for Children with Global Developmental Delay: A Qualitative Study Using Interviews and Photo-Elicitation Ana San-Martín-Gómez 1, Carmen Jiménez-Antona 1, *, María Salcedo-Perez-Juana 1, Livia Gomes Viana-Meireles 2 and Domingo Palacios-Ceña 1 Academic Editor: Jorge Pérez-Gómez Received: 4 December 2025 Revised: 25 December 2025 Accepted: 30 December 2025 Published: 1 January 2026 Copyright: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Research Group of Humanities and Qualitative Research in Health Science (Hum&QRinHS), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain; [ana.sanmartin@urjc.es](ana.sanmartin@urjc.es) (A.S.-M.-G.); [maria.perezjuana@urjc.es](maria.perezjuana@urjc.es) (M.S.-P.-J.); [domingo.palacios@urjc.es](domingo.palacios@urjc.es) (D.P.-C.) 2 Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Ceará 60455-760, Brazil; [liviagviana@ufc.br](liviagviana@ufc.br) * Correspondence: carmen.jimenez@urjc.es Highlights What are the main findings? • Parents reported that home-based Vojta therapy facilitated parent–child affiliative bonding. • Parents in this study indicated that adherence to HBP-delivered VT was perceived as beneficial and sustainable despite their initial concerns. What are the implications of the main findings? • Given appropriate information and resources, more parents of GDD children would choose to administer home-based Vojta therapy. Abstract Introduction: Parents of children presenting global developmental delay (GDD) need tobe involved in their therapy to intensify treatment. Vojta therapy (VT) is an intensive physiotherapeutic treatment that can be administered at home. Whilst parental experience of Home-Based Program (HBP) for preterm or cerebral palsy is well documented, there is a lack of understanding about parents of GDD children on HBP with VT. Objectives: The aim of this work was to describe parents’ perspectives concerning their participation in, concerns with, and perception of the results of an HBP with VT. Methods: A qualitative case design based on an interpretative approach was presented. A purposeful sampling was used. Data was collected in two stages: firstly, semi-structured interviews, and secondly, photo-elicitation. An inductive thematic analysis was used. Results: Seventeen parents were included. Three themes emerged from parents’ perspectives. Firstly, parents’ active participation in VT, which includes their desire to become an active agent to contribute to their child’s improvement, their implication of compromise, learning process, time required, effort, and factors that influence their adherence and continuity. Secondly, parents’perception of the results achieved: motor improvement and better resting, feeding, and breathing; and time and commitment required to achieve them. Thirdly, parents’ initial concerns about suitability, daily implementation, therapy functioning, or evidence, as well as concerns about emotional bonds. Conclusions: Parents universally perceive that their commitment and efforts were rewarded. They recognized that the emotional bond with their child was strengthened by the therapy. The results regarding the beneficial effects perceived by the parents should be treated with caution, as no instruments for assessing the effect or efficacy were used in this study. Keywords: Home-Based Program; parents; Vojta; developmental delay; qualitative research; photo-elicitation 1. Introduction Global Developmental Delay (GDD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the delayed acquisition of two or more developmental milestones [1] . Early intervention is key to reducing

FAQs

What motivates parents to participate actively in home-based Vojta therapy?

Parents reported a desire to become an active agent contributing to their child’s improvement, along with learning, compromise, effort, and time considerations that influence continued involvement.

What results do parents perceive from the home-based VT program?

Parents perceived motor improvement and better resting, feeding, and breathing. They also highlighted the time and commitment required to achieve these outcomes.

What initial concerns do parents have about home-based Vojta therapy?

Parents expressed concerns about suitability and daily implementation, therapy functioning, available evidence, and worries related to emotional bonds with their child.

Sep 30, 2026

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