Global Developmental Delay

This project aims to design and implement a Carer Aromatherapy Training (CAT) program, guided by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model, to empower carers with safe and effective aromatherapy practices. Methods This study will employ a mixed-methods approach to explore behavioural changes and the experience of adopting the CAT programme among parents of children with physical disabilities in Hong Kong. Around 30 carers (preferably parents) of children with global developmental delay from different districts of Hong Kong will be recruited to participate in CAT Program. Following participants' consent to participate, a a one-day (8-hour) face-to-face training program will be given to carers being recruited in the study. One session of introduction will be given to staffs by certified IFPA aromatherapy nurse in centres on the first session of training programme for introducing the theories of aromatherapy, the possible benefit behind and safety issues they must be aware of. Afterwards, massage sessions will be demonstrated with standardised effleurage, on abdomen and four limbs and return demonstrated. After the training program, each carer is required to provide a 4-week aromatherapy massage to his/her child (twice per week for around 10-15 minutes). Qualitative data will be collected from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with questions set based on COM-B framework. Quantitative data will be collected through pre- and post-training surveys and analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test to measure changes in carers motivation and behaviour before and after the CAT programme intervention. Expected Outcomes and implications Integration of findings will provide a comprehensive understanding of the training's impact. The study is expected to demonstrate that behaviourally-informed training can improve care delivery, to strengthen workforce resilience and improve care quality.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a 12-week home-based intervention (Sociometric Play-based Remediation of Individual Neurodevelopmental Trajectories (SPRINT)) helps support parenting and the development of infants aged 7 - 15 months (at the time they join the study) who were born preterm and/or have a higher family risk of developmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or global developmental delay (GDD). The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does taking part in the SPRINT intervention help parents develop parenting skills? * Does taking part in the SPRINT intervention improve infant's thinking skills and/or socio-emotional development? Researchers will compare families who receive the SPRINT intervention with families in a waitlist control group to see whether the intervention leads to greater improvements in parents and their children. Participants will: * Complete questionnaires and in-person assessments, before and after the 12-week period. * Be assigned to either the SPRINT intervention or a waitlist control group and complete the assigned activities for 12 weeks. * Use the SPRINT app, which provides information, guidance and activities for either the SPRINT intervention or waitlist control group.

This study explores a safe and effective new approach to improve language function in children with Global Developmental Delay (GDD). Conducted at Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture People's Hospital, the study will recruit approximately 50 children aged 2 to 5 years. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one receiving personalized language training combined with non-invasive, painless repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) to activate language regions of the brain, and a control group receiving personalized training for comparative analysis. The study spans one month, including a two-week intervention period followed by a two-week follow-up to evaluate the efficacy and sustainability of the combined therapy. This study has been rigorously reviewed and approved by the hospital's Ethics Committee.

Thyroid hormones (TH) play a pivotal role in the development and function of the mammalian brain. Patients with impaired thyroid hormone transport into the brain tissue or in the case of defective local thyroid hormone receptor (collectively referred to as thyroid hormone resistance) subsequently experience psychomotor disabilities. The "DEEPTYPE" registry has been established with the objective of intensifying the genotyping and, in particular, the neurological phenotyping of patients exhibiting deficiencies in either the thyroid hormone transporter (MCT8) or the thyroid hormone receptor alpha (THRα). The objective of this registry-based study is to enhance the diagnostic yield for MCT8 and THRα deficiencies by employing the serum fT3/fT4 ratio as a more sophisticated screening parameter. Furthermore, the investigators will study the genomic regulation of both genes and attempt to identify further coding and non-coding mutations that result in TH resistance. The patient registry "DEEPTYPE" will document the retrospective and prospective clinical data of identified children in a comprehensive manner. This will enable the identification of three key groups: (i) patients with non-coding mutations, (ii) patients with milder phenotypes presenting only with a subset of symptoms seen in both "classic" conditions, and (iii) patients who are ready for clinical trials.