Supporting caregivers of children with disabilities: Lessons from Cambodia

Join RTI’s Center for Thriving Children for a webinar to share results and implications of findings from our recent study on the experiences of families with young children with disabilities in Cambodia. The Reaching Their Full Potential study was an RTI-funded study aimed to document how caregivers of young children with disabilities in Cambodia are providing Nurturing Care as well as supports needed by such caregivers. The findings of this research will help improve interventions and bolster advocacy efforts for increased support services.   

In this webinar, experts will explore how caregivers are adapting to provide Nurturing Care for their children and what interventions best support caregivers, families, and communities in doing so. After presenting the methods and results of the research, speakers will share insights from their own work and explore how these results can impact future programming.

Watch the recording! 

Opening remarks 

Kami Spangenberg, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Scientific Stature Services and Community Affairs, RTI International 

Kami Spangenberg is senior vice president for Corporate Communications, Scientific Stature Services and Community Affairs for RTI International, a global independent nonprofit research institute. In this role, she is responsible for strategic communications planning and marketing program implementation, delivery of research information and publishing services, and community affairs programming spanning charitable giving and outreach.

Ms. Spangenberg has significant experience in corporate branding and messaging, product launches, executive communications, media relations, investor communications, global events, and crisis communications. A senior-level corporate communications and marketing professional, she has worked for publicly traded and privately held global companies. Prior to RTI, she worked as a change communications consultant in the energy sector, a communications principal in pharmaceutical and supply chain consulting practices, and as both a corporate communications director and a global marketing director in the telecommunications field. She serves on the executive committee of The Conference Board Strategic Communications Council. 

Speakers 

Cat Kirk, Senior Technical Advisor, Early Childhood Care and Development, USAID Center for Children in Adversity  

Cat Kirk is a Senior Technical Advisor with USAID's Children in Adversity team, focused on early childhood care and development. She has over a decade of experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health, child development, and education programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the United States. She is specifically interested in services to support early identification and early intervention for children with disabilities and supporting families of children with disabilities. 

Hoeung Heam, Chairperson, Cambodia Physical Therapy Association  

Hoeung Heam has worked in Cambodia's physical therapy community for more than two decades and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Cambodian Physical Therapy Association. In addition to physical therapy, he specializes in public health, rehabilitation, and disability rights. Mr. Heam began his career as a clinical physical therapist in 2001. Since then, he has worked with numerous international NGOs to advocate for and advance disability inclusion in community development. As Chairperson of the Cambodia Physical Therapy Association, Mr. Heam works with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to improve policies, guidelines, and program implementation for better accessibility and inclusion in Cambodia. 

Claire Brennan, Senior Research Specialist, RTI International  

Claire Brennan is a public health professional with over a decade of experience designing and implementing research studies and programs that seek to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for women and children. She supports the USAID Enhancing Nutrition Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning in the Health Sector activity, which increases collaborative generation and use of evidence to improve nutrition and early childhood development.  She also supports the USAID Cambodia Integrated Early Childhood Development Activity, which works across sectors to build the skills, enabling environment and support services needed for Cambodian caregivers, frontline health workers, and communities to provide optimal care to support young children’s development.  

Moderator 

Katherine Merseth King, Director, Early Childhood Development, RTI International   

Katherine Merseth King leads the International Development Group’s practice in Early Childhood Development (ECD). She designs and oversees implementation of programs, conducts research, and sets the strategic vision for RTI’s work in the field of international early childhood development. 

Ms. Merseth King joined RTI in 2015. She has worked for several international development organizations, including Save the Children US, Creative Associates International, and Winrock International. As deputy chief of party for the USAID-funded Education Reform Support Program in Jordan, she managed initiatives on early childhood education, monitoring and evaluation, and youth employability. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Thrive Coalition (2021) and previously served as co-chair of the Basic Education Coalition ECD Working Group (2014-2019) and the Comparative International Education Society’s Early Childhood Education Special Interest Group (2017-2020). “Stumbling at the First Step,” an article about pre-primary education that Ms. Merseth King wrote with Luis Crouch, was selected for the 2018 Change the World collection by publisher Springer Nature. In 2020, she received an RTI President’s Award for outstanding contribution to the Institute.