Document Detail


Modeling caregivers' perceptions of children's need for formal care: physical function, intellectual disability, and behavior.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21122786     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Like most caregivers, informal caregivers for children (typically parents) with special needs supply the majority of the care provided. Formal care is sometimes needed to supplement informal caregivers' efforts. For those interested in children with special needs, there is a paucity of research on those factors affecting the amount of formal care that caregivers' request.
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESES: This research investigates factors affecting the amount of Medicaid personal care services (PCS) requested by primary caregivers for children with special needs. The research focuses especially on the roles played by the child's functional status, intellectual abilities, and behaviors in determining the level of assistance requested by caregivers.
METHODS: The data used in this research are cross-sectional information on 262 children with special needs who were Medicaid recipients in a single southwestern state. These data were collected in 2007 by master's trained social workers or registered nurses using a standardized assessment instrument.
RESULTS: The results indicate that a child's ability to independently perform activities of daily living (ADLs) tasks plays the major role in determining caregivers' perceptions of the need for PCS. The severity of a child's intellectual disability, like some other factors investigated, has an effect on caregivers' perceptions, but it is an indirect effect that operates through the level of the child's ADL impairment. A child's age and behaviors have direct effects on caregivers' perceptions of need, as does the presence of barriers to the caregiver providing care.
DISCUSSION: Much of the research on children with special needs has emphasized the importance of the child's medical or behavioral diagnoses. Little attention has been given to modeling caregivers' perceptions of children's needs. This analysis of caregivers' requests for formal PCS brings to the forefront the role of ADL or functional status in this process. Many factors that one would expect to directly affect caregivers' perceptions of need, instead, have indirect effects filtered through their impact on the child's functional status.
Authors:
Constance J Fournier; Matthew J Davis; Ashweeta Patnaik; Timothy R Elliott; James A Dyer; Emily E Jasek; Charles D Phillips
Related Documents :
11141626 - Preventive services and satisfaction of cherokee nation patients.
6735836 - Satisfaction with health care. a predictor of adolescents' appointment keeping.
9330566 - Description of a self-care instrument for elders.
12213146 - Effect of spanish interpretation method on patient satisfaction in an urban walk-in cli...
18403576 - Use of advance directives for nursing home residents in the emergency department.
9188366 - Organ donor care map: a multidisciplinary approach.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2009-12-29
Journal Detail:
Title:  Disability and health journal     Volume:  3     ISSN:  1936-6574     ISO Abbreviation:  Disabil Health J     Publication Date:  2010 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-12-02     Completed Date:  2011-05-24     Revised Date:  2011-08-25    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101306633     Medline TA:  Disabil Health J     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  213-21     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843-4225, USA. cfournier@tamu.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Activities of Daily Living
Adolescent
Caregivers / psychology*
Child
Child Psychology
Child Welfare
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Services Needs and Demand / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Male
Medicaid / statistics & numerical data
Mental Disorders / rehabilitation*
Mental Retardation / rehabilitation*
Multivariate Analysis
Social Perception*
United States
Young Adult

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Risk for cognitive deficit in a population-based sample of U.S. children with autism spectrum disord...
Next Document:  Stroke in young adults.