Evidence-Based Recommendations for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Best Practice Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this best practice thesis was to develop best practice recommendations for decreasing stress for parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs). Current research has reported that caring for a child with a DD can be physically and mentally exhausting due to the demands of caring for the child around the clock. Due to the often complex healthcare needs of children with DDs, parents are placed at an increased risk for high levels of stress, which can negatively affect overall health and well-being. Parents of children with DDs have the greatest ability to influence the health and well-being of their child. Thus, increased parental stress that leads to poor parental health and well-being, can negatively affect the health and well-being of the child. Additionally, stress among parents of children with DDs is highly associated with child behavior problems. By proposing evidence based recommendations for improved knowledge of child behaviors/behavior problems associated with DDs parents would have the necessary information about children with DDs to empower them to better anticipate child behavior problems and better determine effective strategies for overcoming those problems, ultimately leading to decreased parental stress and improved overall well-being for both the parent(s) and child.