Respite Care for Children with Severe Intellectual Disability and their Families: Who Needs It? Who Receives It?

Abstract

Need for, and receipt of, respite care services were examined in a representative sample of 103 5±11-year-old children with severe intellectual disability and their families. Children for whom respite care was wanted had signi®cantly more severe disabilities and behaviour problems than those whose parents felt they did not need it; their parents also reported signi®cantly higher levels of stress. However, among those who wanted respite care, none of these factors appeared relevant to whether or not they had received it. The results suggest the need for greater account to be taken of the severity of the child's behaviour problems and intellectual disabilities in the allocation of respite care services, and also for measures to improve the supply of respite care placements capable of managing children with more challenging behaviour.

How is Taking Care of Caregivers of Children with Disabilities Related to Academic Achievement?

“…Chadwick et al (2002) examined the receipt of respite care services for families of children with severe intellectual disabilities and indicated that special efforts need to be made in placing children into respite care services and subsequently managing these services with respect to the child's and the family's needs. Special efforts to place and manage respite care services are particularly relevant as Chadwick et al (2002) found that those families reporting the most stress and having the most severe circumstances were not more or less likely to receive respite care services than other families. Despite the positive academic outcomes associated with the receipt of respite care services, a distinction in the allocation of services must be made with respect to the needs of the child and the family.…”

“…With this limited access to respite care services, it is not surprising that research literature has repeatedly noted the effects of caregiver stress (Chadwick et al 2002;Chan and Sigafoos 2001;Cowen and Reed 2002). Parental or caregiver stress levels are particularly important as the interactions that a child has with their parent can influence the effectiveness of the interventions and treatment that the child receives.…”

“…Conversely, the receipt of respite care services for parents of children with disabilities has been significantly associated with lower levels of caregiver stress (Chadwick et al 2002;Cowen and Reed 2002) and higher levels of caregiver satisfaction (Nicoll et al 2002). Despite research such as this indicating the positive outcomes associated with the receipt of respite care services, caregivers and their families can still experience a lack of support in obtaining these services from their respective communities.…”

Complexities in the Provision of Respite Care to Family Carers of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

“…In particular it has established that the level of parental stress is a predictor in the use of respite care (Grant & Ramcharan, 2001;McGrother et al,1996). Other studies have indicated that the severity of the person's disability is a predictor in the decision to use respite care (Chadwick et al, 2002;Treneman et al, 1997). Mac Donald et al, (2006), found that contrary to former research, the likelihood of Irish families using respite care was not significantly related to either their children's challenging behaviour or the level of support their children needed.…”

Short Breaks Services for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Factors Associated with Service Use and Non-use

“…The literature suggests that short breaks tend to be used more by families with limited informal support networks than by those who have greater support from family and friends (Boyd, 2002;Chan & Sigafoos, 2000;Cohen, 1982: Factor et al, 1990Randall & Parker, 1999); and that families who use (or wish to use) short breaks have children who are more dependent or have more serious behavioural issues than non-users (Boyd, 2002;Chadwick, Beecham, Piroth, Bernard, & Taylor, 2002;Factor et al, 1990;Marc & MacDonald, 1988;McConkey & Adams, 2000;Trenenan, Corkery, Dowdney, & Hammond, 1997).…”