[Study on the professional procedures, experiences and needs of parents when they are told their child has a disability or developmental disorder. Breaking the news]

Abstract

Introduction: Both the moment and the way chosen to break the news that a child aged 0-6 years is suffering, or may suffer, from a developmental disorder or disability have an effect on the parents and on the familial system that goes beyond the actual fact of knowing about the circumstance in itself. It is a very significant social act that represents the first encounter in which the parents explore and anticipate the social attitudes of inclusion or exclusion towards the child.

Aims: To gather information about the practices usually employed by professionals when it comes to breaking the news to the families, to evaluate what aspects of the process could be improved, to determine the families' needs in these circumstances and to gain a deeper understanding of the affective-emotional processes experienced by the parents.

Subjects and methods: The research was conducted using a questionnaire with 43 items, which was specifically designed for the population under examination in the study. Altogether, 418 parents from 15 different autonomous regions of Spain took part in the study. At the same time, the existing literature on diagnostic information in Spanish was reviewed.

Results and conclusions: It can be concluded that, to 'break the bad news', professionals must know the family; they must take the utmost care in choosing when, where and how to give that news; the parents must be together when they are told; and they must take into account the type of disability the child suffers from as well as its intensity. These guidelines of conduct become manifest in strategies and keys to be applied to each situation, in the contents of the messages to be communicated and in the attitudes of professionals.