Caregiving Children with Visually Impairments: Occupational Balance and Quality of Life Perspective

Abstract

Several studies have shown that caregivers of children (COC) with special needs have their occupational balance (OB) or quality of life (QOL) worsening. However, the OB and QOL of COC with visual impairment are not adequately investigated. Fifty-nine participants who were the primary COC who were diagnosed with either low vision (LV) or blindness completed the study. Occupational Balance Questionerrie Turkish version and the WHO Quality of Life Scale-Short Form Turkish version were applied. The correlation analysis was used to test the correlation between the OB and QOL scores. The Mann-Whitney U used for comparing OB and QOL scores between the COC with LV and blindness. There was a positive correlation between caregivers' OB and QOL (r=0.600; p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between OB and QOL of the two groups of caregivers (p>0.05). There are many issues that occupational therapists should support and investigate about this family. We think that the quality of life, balance of activity and efficient use of the time of COC with VI should be further investigated by occupational therapists.