Coping Strategies Among Mothers of Chronically Ill Children: A Case Study in Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the stresses and coping strategies of five mothers in caring for their chronically ill and disabled children. These mothers were receiving services from a nonprofit hospital in Malaysia. Through an in-depth case study design, the findings indicated that emotional stress caused high levels of depression, which decreased life satisfaction that led to poorer physical health. Issues explored included employment, noncooperation of family members, as well as factors related to the mother's individual abilities and how these factors might affect maternal caregiving. Recommendations for future research include identifying probable psychosocial stresses and other associated factors while emphasizing the importance of community-based programs that minimize these stresses.

Challenges Faced by Mothers Caring for Children with Leukaemia During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

“…Changing family, work and financial circumstances may lead to negative consequences including housing instability, interpersonal violence and child abuse (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). This is congruent with other studies (Othman et al, 2011;Saadah et al, 2014). For instance, caregiving parents can experience financial difficulties due to an inability to work full-time or outside the home, medical bills and treatment expenses (Saadah et al, 2014).…”

“…This is congruent with other studies (Othman et al, 2011;Saadah et al, 2014). For instance, caregiving parents can experience financial difficulties due to an inability to work full-time or outside the home, medical bills and treatment expenses (Saadah et al, 2014).…”

“…Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress are examples of parents' detrimental psychosocial results when their children have cancer (Ljungman et al, 2014;Sulkers et al, 2015;Sultan et al, 2016;Vrijmoet-Wiersma et al, 2008). Furthermore, health, environmental, financial and emotional pressures confront parents when their children have leukaemia (Saadah et al, 2014). One instance is how financial problems result from the need to cover medical costs for treatment, restrictions on working away from home and difficulties committing to full-time employment, due to parents being principal care providers (Saadah et al, 2014).…”

“…Furthermore, health, environmental, financial and emotional pressures confront parents when their children have leukaemia (Saadah et al, 2014). One instance is how financial problems result from the need to cover medical costs for treatment, restrictions on working away from home and difficulties committing to full-time employment, due to parents being principal care providers (Saadah et al, 2014). Meanwhile, deleterious impacts on care providers' emotional state and a greater risk of depression have been linked to limited social assistance and family earnings, reduced overall health status of care providers, their greater anxiety and more time spent on day-today care for their children, thus exacerbating the pressure on them (Wang et al, 2017).…”

Coping Mechanism for Fathers’ Well-being

“…Generally, an emotion-focused coping strategy refers to an individual's approach in avoiding stress through cognitive evaluations and in having a positive outlook between the self and the environment (Yaacob, 2012). Basically, there are four types of coping strategies under this emotion-focused coping strategy, namely social support, self-regulation, acceptance of responsibility, and positive thinking (Saadah et al, 2014). As demonstrated by Recto and Lesser (2020), social support is one of the aspects that can reduce stress among young fathers.…”