Scaling Up Psychosocial Interventions for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Solutions for Bridging the Research-to-Practice Gap

A significant number of interventions aimed at enhancing the development and quality of life for children and youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) are psychosocial in nature. While there are well-established pathways for safely and cost-effectively introducing drugs and medical devices into healthcare systems, the dissemination and uptake of psychosocial interventions is far less structured and is often managed by different sectors, including health, social services, and education. Literature on the adoption of psychosocial interventions, particularly in pediatrics, is sparse—especially for children with developmental disabilities and their families. Consequently, our knowledge of how psychosocial interventions are integrated for this underserved group remains extremely limited.

Our recent study aimed to explore this gap by investigating the factors that influence the scaling up and adoption of psychosocial interventions for children with NDD into practice. It also explored the processes used by researchers when designing and preparing to scale up psychosocial interventions and those used by decision-makers when choosing which interventions to implement for children and youth with NDD and their caregivers. Through surveys and interviews, we identified several key barriers and facilitators to scaling up psychosocial interventions for this population of children and their families, including systemic fragmentation, resource constraints, and a lack of cross-sector collaboration.

In this concurrent session, we will move beyond identifying barriers and facilitators to focus on actionable solutions for scaling up psychosocial interventions for children with NDD. We will present our research findings, which highlight the key factors influencing the uptake and integration of these interventions. Following this, we will engage session participants in a World Café discussion, where they will collaboratively explore practical strategies to overcome these barriers and bridge the gap between research and practice. Attendees will develop concrete, actionable solutions to enhance cross-sector collaboration, optimize intervention development and scale-up, and improve resource allocation. The session will focus on creating scalable, sustainable systems that improve access to psychosocial interventions for children with NDD across healthcare, education, and social service sectors.