Parenting children with intellectual disabilities in Malawi: the impact that reaches beyond coping?
Saved in:
| Title: | Parenting children with intellectual disabilities in Malawi: the impact that reaches beyond coping? |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Masulani‐Mwale, C., Mathanga, D., Silungwe, D., Kauye, F., Gladstone, M. |
| Source: | Child: Care, Health & Development. Nov2016, Vol. 42 Issue 6, p871-880. 10p. |
| Subjects: | Psychological adaptation, Discrimination (Sociology), Experience, Focus groups, Health services accessibility, Interviewing, Phenomenology, Mental health, People with intellectual disabilities, Parenting, Parents of children with disabilities, Research funding, Spirituality, Social stigma, Psychological stress, Qualitative research, Judgment sampling, Narratives, Thematic analysis, Psychology |
| Geographic Terms: | Malawi |
| Abstract: | Background Rates of disability are high in resource poor settings with 85% of children with disabilities living in these settings. Long-term caregiving for disabled children is associated with fatigue, financial difficulties, parenting distress and other psychological issues. While such parents of children have repeatedly highlighted their feelings of discrimination, stigma and exclusion, leading to mental health issues, there is little research from the developing world addressing these issues. Research objectives This study aims to explore psychological experiences of parents caring for children with intellectual disabilities; understand their mechanisms of coping and their psychosocial needs in Malawi. Methodology This study used a qualitative phenomenological design. We purposively sampled parents who had children diagnosed with intellectual disability from two clinics in two cities in Malawi. Between January 2015 and March 2015, we conducted 10 focus group discussions and four in-depth interviews. All ethical study procedures were carefully followed. All interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and translated from vernacular to English. Thematic approach of data analysis was adopted to understand the data. Findings Caring for intellectually disabled children comes with a number of challenges. Parents have limited access to services for their children let alone for their own psychological issues; they experience stigma and discrimination, have mental health issues resulting from the caring role, have suicidal ideas and in some cases have even been coerced by neighbours to kill their disabled child. To manage these issues, most parents cope through their spirituality. Discussion and recommendation Apart from suicide and filicide, the findings of this study are similar to those performed in other countries. It is recommended that parents' psychological issues be managed concurrently when providing services for their children. There is also a need to develop psychosocial training interventions to address the needs of the parents of these children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Child: Care, Health & Development is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
Be the first to leave a comment!
