Family members of children with disabilities have become more involved in their children's care and have adopted the role of primary caregiver. Due to the varying degrees of the condition, children with cerebral palsy (CP) often require greater involvement from their caregivers. Fifteen caregivers for children with CP residing in rural communities…

Purpose: Increasing demand for autism services is straining service systems. Tailoring services to best meet families' needs could improve their quality of life and decrease burden on the system. We explored overall, best, and worst met service needs, and predictors of those needs, for families of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods:…

Background: This study explored the experiences of working mothers with an adult child with intellectual disabilities to understand how they reconcile paid work and care responsibilities. Methods: Fifteen working mothers in Taiwan with an adult child with intellectual disabilities were interviewed, and an interpretative phenomenological approach…

Background: Many family carers find the support they receive in respect of their child's challenging behaviour unhelpful. This study sought to identify carer perceptions of the ways in which support is unhelpful and how it could be more helpful. Methods: Thirteen mothers, caring for a child with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour,…

This study explored the relationship between four types of autonomy (health autonomy, informational autonomy, living autonomy, and financial autonomy) and the acceptance of five types of long-term care (adult day care, respite care, assisted living, unit care, and group home) for the elderly in Taiwan. Data were collected from 167 middle-aged and…

Background: This study examined whether service utilisation among children with intellectual disability (ID) varied by ethnic cultural group. Method: Survey carried out in four special schools in London. Information was provided by school teachers using case files, and 242 children aged 7 to 17 years with mild and moderate ID were identified.…

The nation's child protection system (CPS) has historically focused on preventing maltreatment in high-risk families, whose children have already been maltreated. But, as Jane Waldfogel explains, it has also begun developing prevention procedures for children at lower risk--those who are referred to CPS but whose cases do not meet the criteria for…

Many families provide lifelong support to their relative with an intellectual disability. However, relatively little information is available for national populations on the characteristics of the people for whom these families care and the supports they receive or need. A database of all persons in receipt of intellectual disability services has…

This annotated bibliography addresses issues, principles, programs, and research about respite care published in articles and books from 1978-1988. It covers a wide range of topics, from comprehensive overviews of respite issues, services, and policies to descriptions of specific respite care program models. A number of the bibliographic entries…

A survey of 124 families with mentally retarded children identified those families who did and did not use respite care services. Families who tended to use respite care were larger, made greater use of professional support services, and had children with more severe handicaps and more serious behavior problems. (Author/JDD)

Presents results of a three-state mailed survey that examined pre- and postadoptive service needs of 562 families who adopted children, most of whom had special needs, through public child welfare agencies. Financial and medical adoptive subsidies emerged as pivotal service needs. Counseling and education services and respite care were evaluated…

The Family Support Project in Lansing, Michigan, provides a variety of family support services to help maintain severely mentally and severely multiply impaired children in their own communities, and whenever possible, in their own homes. Services offered include case management, family therapy, respite services, special needs purchases,…

The manual discusses home based approaches to support families of developmentally disabled children. The first section presents in question and answer format the rationale for such support services. Succeeding sections address the following aspects: respite care, sitter/companion services; parent counseling, education, and training; in home…

Examined the utilization patterns of caregivers (N=597) to dementia victims when services were available. Identified and examined factors influencing service utilization, including amount of burden experienced by the caregiver, the degree of involvement in the care of the patient, and the amount of resources available. Respite-oriented services…

Purpose: In response to concerns among policymakers and others that increases in the availability of publicly funded formal services will lead to reductions in self- and informal care, this study examines the relationship between the extent of formal in-home care received and levels of self- and informal care. Design and Methods: Two-stage least…