RESEARCH by a UST occupational therapy professor and her students led to the development of Quezon City’s award-winning hybrid community-based rehabilitation program for parents and their children with disabilities (CWDs).
Called “flexicoaching,” the program combines online and face-to-face caregiver coaching, aiming to ensure continuous therapy services for children with disabilities in urban poor areas.
The program is the product of four separate studies conducted since 2020, spearheaded by Asst. Prof. Karen Sagun of the Department of Occupational Therapy, who also serves as director of the Quezon City Kabahagi Center for Children with Disabilities.
“There was an urgent need to adapt the community-based rehabilitation service delivery model to continue supporting children with disabilities and their families despite limitations,” Sagud told the Varsitarian. “These must be based on evidence and must involve the community in creating what will work for them.”
According to Sagun, the first study in 2020 focused on the experiences of parents and children with disabilities during the pandemic, ultimately recommending “telecoaching,” a fully remote caregiver coaching initiative.
The following year, researchers examined the accessibility of telecoaching in communities and uncovered several limitations.
“Through time, we continued to evolve based on what is most accessible to the sector we serve — the indigent families of children with disabilities in urban communities,” Sagun said.
“It eventually led to the hybrid approach that caters to the sector’s varying needs — the flexicoaching program,” she said.
The two other studies examined the effectiveness of the blended delivery approach and its intervention success rate, showing that 88% of the 406 children met their therapy goals.
According to Sagun, the findings proved the approach’s sustainability for CWDs in underserved areas.
Flexicoaching offers caregivers a structured set of 10 therapy sessions tailored to each child’s needs and conducted by licensed therapists.
“Flexicoaching leverages professional therapists who coach parents and caregivers, empowering them to continue therapeutic interventions at home,” Sagun said. “All sessions are designed to build caregiver capacity and confidence in delivering appropriate interventions at home.”
In March, flexicoaching received the 2025 Gelia Castillo Award for Research on Social Innovations in Health from the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.
The award recognizes community-driven, research-based innovations that address health needs and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. with reports from Jenna Mariel A. Gonzales
