The effects of a family support program including respite care on parenting stress and family quality of life perceived by primary caregivers of childeren with disabilities in Korea

Abstract

In this study, a family support program was carried out for primary caregivers of children with disabilities. The program included respite care, recreation programs, counseling, and social support coordination based on individual needs of each family. In order to verify the intervention effects, parenting stress and family quality of life were measured before and after the intervention. Twenty-one primary caregivers who have children with disabilities attending a special school located in Buchon, Korea participated in the study. The experimental group A (sevencaregivers) was provided with respite care services only whereas the experimental group B (seven caregivers) was provided with a multifaceted family support program including recreational programs, counseling, and social support coordination in addition to respite care services. No support was provided to the control group (seven caregivers). The results showed a significant difference in the change of family quality of life between the experimental group B and the control group. However, there was no significant difference among three groups in parenting stress. Discussion about the results and implications for future research is presented.