Effects of an education programme on family participation in the rehabilitation of children with developmental disability

Abstract

The growth and development of children with developmental disability depend very much on the parents.The present study was designed to examine whether family-focused education could enhance parental skills, knowledge and competency.The enhancement would in turn result in greater parental participation in the rehabilitation process of these children.The parental needs of Chinese parents were reviewed for the formulation of the Family-Focused Education Programme, which was then implemented, and evaluated using a pre-test/post-test control group design. Forty parents were invited to participate in the study using a convenience sampling technique.The mean scores of these variables were in the direction of increasing after the programme, though repeated measures ANOVA did not indicate any statistically significant changes in parenting knowledge, attitude and stress. It was apparent that the Family-Focused Education Programme enhanced parental competence. Undoubtedly, the family-focused approach is crucial for enhancing parenting competency, and education is fundamental to enabling parents.