A Parent Group for the Hispanic Parents of Children With Severe Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Children severely affected by cerebral palsy representa major challenge for their parents These parents have special educational and emotional support needs At Orthopaedic Hospital, this challenge has been met through the use of a prior parent group project A group of Hispanic parents of children with severe cerebral palsy was formed to educate about the childrens medical condition and to provide a forum for mutuai support among parents with similar challenges Language and cultural considerations were an integral part of the intervention A secondary gain that resuhed from this intervention was the improved use of the health care professional s time As a result of the group experience, parents became better health care managers for their children as measured by the childs weight, hospital usage, utilization of the educational system, and selfratings.