Experiences of Family Resource Utilization Among Taiwanese Parents of Children with Developmental Delay

To describe the experiences of the utilization of family resources by parents of children with developmental delay (DD) when receiving early intervention (EI) services.

A Descriptive phenomenological approach was applied to conduct this study. Purposive sampling was utilized to select 17 parents of children with DD from a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. Data were collected from January 2015 to March 2016 through face-to-face interviews that lasted between 55 and 80 min. Data analysis was performed using Giorgi's phenomenological method.

Four themes emerged: parents receiving EI services feel as if they are admitting that their child has an abnormality; parents' dedication in helping their children to progress; parents feel that they are needing to extend their resources in an already limited environment; and lastly, parents expressed that they are facing an uncertain future.

The findings highlight the dedication of parents in utilizing family resources to help their children progress. Constrained by the environment and an uncertain future, parents utilized family strengths to help them respond to stressful family situations and maintain family functions.

Health professionals could assist by providing more EI resources to parents to help cope with family stress arising from having children with DD. It's recommended that health professionals pay attention to Taiwanese culture and how it influences family acceptance for EI services, and work toward establishing friendly EI environments that meet the needs of these children and their families.