“Oh I try, but it’s so hard”: parental experiences of health promotion in children withdisabilities

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore how parents support the health behaviours of their child with a disability, and their motivations for registering their child in a health promotion program for children with physical and/or intellectual disabilities.

Methods

Using a descriptive qualitative design, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with individual parents (n = 8) and one group (n = 3) to explore their experiences of health promotion for their child with a disability. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify themes and patterns to develop an understanding of parental perspectives.

Results

Three themes were identified in the analysis of parents’ experiences supporting their children in health behaviours and registering them in a disability health promotion program: (1) Parents struggle to meet all of their child’s health promotion needs; (2) Parents recognize the social components of healthy behaviours; and (3) Health promotion opportunities tailored for children with disabilities are limited. These themes were not mutually exclusive and had overlapping factors that influenced parental experiences.

Conclusion

Parents experience many challenges supporting the health behaviours of their children with disabilities. This study reinforces the need for accessible, developmentally appropriate, social health promotion programs for children with disabilities.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Children with disabilities frequently demonstrate significantly higher sedentary behaviours, lower rates of physical activity and consumption of high-fat foods than their typically developing peers.

• Promoting healthy behaviours such as healthy eating and physical activity among children with disabilities and their families is therefore crucial to the child’s physical and psychosocial wellbeing.

• Parents of children with disabilities have sufficient health literacy and knowledge but report a lack of appropriate opportunities and strategies to support their child in developing healthy behaviours.

• Parents need increased availability and accessibility of socially inclusive programs that promote healthy behaviours for children of all physical and cognitive abilities.

Keywords:

• Pediatric rehabilitation
• physical activity
• health behaviours
• diet
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants who took part in this study. We also wish to thank the Therapeutic Recreation Specialists who supported recruitment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figure 1. Applying Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System's Theory to study results.