A descriptive study investigating the quality of the physical and social environment for infants and toddlers living in residential care facilities in Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract

The number of children needing care outside of the home environment is increasing. Little is known on quality of residential child carechild care environments in South Africa. To address this knowledge gap, a quantitative descriptive research protocol with a cross-sectional study design was employed to survey residential child care facilities in Johannesburg. The Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale – revised edition was used to describe the social and physical environments provided to children (0-30 months) residing in 18 facilities. Furthermore, caregiver (n=45) and facility demographic information were gathered to determine whether an association existed between three aspects of the environments (caregiver education, training, and child to caregiver ratios) and overall quality scores. Results showed that the environments provided were inadequate and no statistical significant correlations were found between structural aspects and quality scores. The results indicated that the environment restricted children in the fulfilment of meaningful occupation, highlighting the importance of intervention by occupational therapists.