The Resilience of Social Service Providers and Families of Children With Autism or Development Delays During the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Community Case Study in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: Hong Kong is one of the earliest cities to have hampered by the COVID-19. When preventive public health measures are enforced, specific groups, who have already been facing inequality before the outbreak, are likely to become more overlooked and vulnerable.Aim: This community case study aims to describe the additional needs of families of children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental issues, as well as unexpected difficulties and challenges social service professionals encountered when delivering service and their solutions toward these challenges.Methods: A focus group with 10 professionals providing the Caregiver Skills Training Program was conducted.Results: Poor families of vulnerable children were found to be challenged, more than average, in finding daily necessities during the initial stage of the outbreak. Most vulnerable children displayed additional problematic behaviors and emotional problems during the quarantine. The social service professionals addressed the family needs by providing tangible resources and offering online training, workshops, and programs to meet their needs. Several important lessons were learned. First, technology know-how on conducting online training, workshop, and program could be a challenge to some social service professionals and the parents. Second, the professionals reported that they made huge efforts to produce guidelines in protecting services users' privacy, to equip themselves with necessary skills in executing privacy-protection measures, and to keep exploring for safer alternatives. Third, providing tele-services in online mode represented a different interaction pattern between social service professionals and service users, especially in the recruitment processes and group dynamics.Conclusion: In comparison with other cities, Hong Kong has responded to the COVID-19 efficiently and effectively based on the citizen's strict adherence to behavioral advice and the innovative altruistic efforts from the multi-sectors in the community.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Containment Measures on Families and Children with Moderate and High-Functioning ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

“…Increased stress levels and lower levels of well-being of parents of children with ASD were confirmed by a large number of studies [29] in comparison with parents of neurotypical children or children with other forms of disability [30][31][32][33]. Furthermore, it could often lead to burnout, depression, and psychological and physical breakdown, a condition that is exacerbated by deficits in services and general childcare [26,27,34].…”

Effects of the Early Phase of COVID-19 on the Autistic Community in Sweden: A Qualitative Multi-Informant Study Linking to ICF

“…Overall, several participants reported that stressful time spent at home contributed to relationships within the household becoming strained or more severely disrupted. Indeed, international findings report that social service providers have had to adapt the content of their interventions during the pandemic and increasingly target emotional coaching, activation, and parent support [24].…”

“…Clearly, the pandemic conditions have had pervasive effects on the lived experiences of the global autism community. Notably, several studies are now showing that families have at least partly lost access to healthcare and support services [22][23][24][25] causing worries about the potential long-term effects on children's emotional health as well as educational and developmental progress [23]. Nevertheless, adhering to prevention measures and guidelines, many care services changed the structure or adapted the content of treatment protocols to move online [24,25].…”

“…Notably, several studies are now showing that families have at least partly lost access to healthcare and support services [22][23][24][25] causing worries about the potential long-term effects on children's emotional health as well as educational and developmental progress [23]. Nevertheless, adhering to prevention measures and guidelines, many care services changed the structure or adapted the content of treatment protocols to move online [24,25]. Parents have reported variable satisfaction rates with remote services, being generally satisfied with remote psychotherapeutic services but dissatisfied with behavioral, speech/language, and occupational therapeutic interventions remotely.…”

Preventive behaviours and family inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in China

“…A longitudinal study also suggested that promoting preventive measures can alleviate the fear and confusion of the population and protect mental health in China[ 21 ]. Therefore, understanding the adoption of preventive behaviours at the household level and exploring inequalities within families are necessary for governments in China and other countries [ 22 , 23 ].…”