Identifying mechanisms of change in a magic-themed hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy programme for children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy: a qualitative study using behaviour change theory

The research programme Breathe Magic focuses on the functional independence of children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP) through the development of abilities in the upper limbs obtained as part of a protocol of intensive hand-arm bimanual therapy (HABIT) which uses magic tricks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 children who had USCP and who participated in the Breathe Magic HABIT intervention, a focus group with 17 parents and/or assistants. Analysis was conducted according to the COM-B (model of behavior) using a combined deductive framework and an inductive thematic analysis.