Étude exploratoire de la mise en place de l’Early Start Denver Model en France

Abstract

Background

The Early Start Denver model is one of the interventions recommended by the French High Authority on Health since 2012 for the very early care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This program, developed in the United States, has shown the best evidence of effectiveness in an intensive form of delivery that is difficult to generalize to other culturally different contexts. Consequently, its implementation in the French health care system has required some adaptations that have not yet been evaluated. After a summary of the method's features and the results of studies of its effectiveness, this first retrospective descriptive observational study aims to characterize the implementation and practice of this intervention in France. In doing so, it also aims to better understand the potential obstacles to the implementation of early intervention and thus propose avenues for improvement.

Material and method

A census of French units offering the Denver model was conducted from June to October 2020. A questionnaire sent to the participating units made it possible to explore different dimensions: first, the characteristics of these units, including their composition. Secondly, their integration into the care network and the children's care pathway. Practice and delivery modalities were also assessed. Finally, the objective was to highlight the difficulties that the teams may have faced when implementing the model. The data were collected in Microsoft Excel® software in order to perform a descriptive statistical analysis.

Results

In total, 92% of the units surveyed participated in the study and returned the questionnaire. Our results highlight a significant heterogeneity in the deployment of the Denver method at the national level and underline the limit of resources available in the territory, particularly in its intensive delivery form.

Conclusion

Further research is still needed to study the feasibility and effectiveness of ESDM interventions deployed in the specific context of the French healthcare system. In addition, significant work remains to be done to establish rapid and identifiable pathways for early intervention in young children with ASD.