The Sustainability of Self-Help Groups for Caregivers of Children With Disabilities in Kilifi, Kenya: The Changing Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
K Bunning, J K Gona, S W Wanjala and 1 others
PMID 40219756WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of children with disabilities in Kilifi kept self-help groups connected through pandemic lockdowns by outdoor meetings, phone contact, savings and livelihood plans.
Their reported quality of life was higher than parents with typically functioning children in four domains.
Key findings
01Most completed monitoring questionnaires reported contact among members, mainly through brief socially distanced meetings, and livelihood activities were partly maintained.
02After the pandemic, caregivers of children with disabilities reported higher quality of life than parents with typically functioning children in support for caring, money matters, personal growth and ability to care.
03In eight caregivers measured before and after the pandemic, overall perceived quality of life increased significantly, with significant improvements in support for caring, caring stress and ability to care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The qualitative work came from only 3 of the 11 groups, because pandemic restrictions stopped further focus group discussions. The monitoring questionnaire was created during the pandemic and was not piloted before use. The postpandemic quality of life comparison used convenience samples, not random assignment, and the control group was only broadly matched on location, mean age and family size. The pre and post pandemic quality of life comparison used only 8 caregivers, and those who could be contacted may have been the most committed to the groups. The self-help groups combined several supports at once, including regular meetings, livelihood activities, savings, peer support, facilitated discussions on economic empowerment, health, education and community inclusion, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The study did not differentiate mothers from grandmothers as caregivers.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper does not report a funding source for the current study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the higher reported quality of life scores as proof that self-help group membership caused them. The caregivers also took part in regular meetings, livelihood activities, savings, peer support, facilitated discussions on economic empowerment, health and education of children with disabilities, and community inclusion, and the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.