Development of an Online Training Course for Government Employees to Support Families With a Child With Profound...

Area of Science:

• Disability Studies
• Family Support Services
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Families with children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities face complex, pervasive support needs.
• Effective support is crucial for enabling these families to lead positive and meaningful lives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a needs-based product for families raising children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
• To identify specific support preferences of these families.

Main Methods:

• Design Thinking methodology was employed to create a supportive product.
• Parental input was gathered through three distinct questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Parents expressed a preference for support focused on enhancing resilience and care capacity.
• Improved communication and mutual understanding with municipal government employees were identified as key needs.
• An online training course for government employees was developed based on these findings.

Conclusions:

• A product has been successfully developed to meet the specific needs and preferences of families with children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
• The study offers valuable insights into the preferred support mechanisms for parents in this demographic.