Identifying and Prioritizing the Needs of Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Among children with special needs, those with cerebral palsy may jeopardize the physical and mental health of their parents, because they have special physical features, need long-term care, and suffer from intellectual disability, learning disorder, aphasia, auditory/visual impairment, and difficulties in self-help skills. One of the challenges confronted by the specialists is to render appropriate education and rehabilitation services to parents of children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, this study was done to identify and prioritize the needs of parents of children with cerebral palsy.

This study was a descriptive survey. The sample included 200 parents of children with cerebral palsy in Guilan province in the academic year 2017-2018. They were selected by purposive method and then completed the researcher-made needs assessment questionnaire for parents of children with cerebral palsy. Data were analyzed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and Friedman test.

The findings showed that the needs assessment questionnaire for parents of children with cerebral palsy included the important dimensions of awareness of the social needs of children, awareness of the therapeutic needs of children and facilities provided for them, and the need for knowledge and awareness. Also, among the needs of parents of children with cerebral palsy, concern about the occupational and marital future of the child (mean score: 32.46), concern about the way the society may treat the child (mean score: 31.09), and the family efforts and supports to improve the child's condition (mean score: 29.46) were the most important ones, respectively.   

Taking into account the dimensions of the identified needs of parents of children with cerebral palsy, active participation of the family, awareness of parents about their own needs, and awareness of the practitioners and authorities about these children and their families are essentially important for providing the effective education and rehabilitation.