Babycare Assistance Needs of Parents With Physical Disabilities: An Observational Study

Abstract

The assistance needs of parents with physical disabilities have been widely underexamined. This qualitative observational study described the assistance needs of parents with physical disabilities during the performance of in-home babycare activities. Thirty-one parents were assessed by trained occupational therapists using the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Profile adapted for use with parents, an ecological performance-based assessment that considers executive functioning. Descriptive statistics of participants' demographics and parents' independence scores in babycare activities were calculated, and a qualitative content analysis of parents' assistance needs was performed using video recordings. At least one-fourth of parents experienced difficulties in all babycare activities, either affecting activity performance or requiring verbal or physical assistance. Assistance needs were also observed in all activity-related operations of the ADL Profile. It is necessary to develop specialized clinical services to address assistance needs and promote safe and easy parenting in parents with physical disabilities.

Keywords: Activities of Daily Living; assessment; cognition; occupational therapy; parenting.

Figure 1.

Distribution of Parents’ Babycare Independence for Each Operation (A) and for Total Activity Scores (B) of the Eight Parenting Activities Assessed. Note. Scores: 3—independence without difficulty, 2—independence with difficulty, 1—requires verbal and/or physical assistance, 0—dependence. N/A signifies that the activity was either requested by the assessors (i.e., formulate a goal) or that the corresponding operation(s) could not be observed and therefore scored during the allocated assessment period. Six mothers breastfed during the feeding activity.