Supporting Primary School Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Qualitative Investigation of Teaching Staff Experiences

Abstract

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) has a deleterious impact on numerous areas of children’s lives, including school functioning. This study moves beyond eliciting child reports of school functioning to examine teaching staff’s experiences of supporting a child with JIA in school. Methods: A total of 51 UK-based teaching staff members with experience of supporting a child aged 7–11 years with JIA in school were recruited. Participants completed an online qualitative survey regarding their perceptions and experiences of supporting a child with JIA in school, with a subsample of 9 participants completing a subsequent telephone interview to explore responses in greater detail. Survey and interview data were analyzed using the conventional approach to qualitative content analysis. Results: Analyses generated 4 themes: (1) communicating, (2) flexing and adapting, (3) including, and (4) learning and knowing. Findings highlighted the importance of clear communication between teaching staff and parents in addition to the need for teaching staff to provide individualized support for children with JIA which maximized their inclusion within the class. Conclusions: This paper provides new knowledge regarding how teaching staff adopt proactive and creative strategies to support children with JIA, often in the absence of appropriate training, identifying support needs and resources for teaching staff.