The perceptions of Taiwanese families who have children with learning disability

To explore the perceptions of families in Taiwan of living with a child who have learning disability and the parents perspectives on the cultural influences on their spiritual experiences.

Traditionally, the family is the most important unit of society, family functioning is a key field of interest among helping professionals who provide family interventions.

This study adopted qualitative research with semi-structured interviews. The study analysis used content analysis which was a process of identifying, coding and categorizing the themes in the data.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 117 parents in their homes and were interpreted by using content analysis to extract key conceptual themes from the transcribed interview texts.

The findings revealed that the perceptions of families with learning disability children were wide-ranging. The stressors did not occur in a fixed order, they were different in degree and importance from one family to another.

The results showed that the experience of analysing qualitative data was extremely valuable for parents in that it aided their own understanding of the real-life experiences of the parents and in coming to know the parents in a richer, more meaningful way. In doing so, nurses need to be aware of their own thoughts and environment without letting it influence others.

The nurse should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the family's culture and be able to show respect for cultural difference to assess and identify culturally acceptable health-care interventions.