Abstract
To explore the support needs of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in China under the guidance of the nurturing care framework (NCF). A descriptive qualitative study design was used. Fourteen parents of 2-6-year-old children with autism were recruited for face-to-face individual interviews in Chongqing between July and November 2023. NVivo 12.0 software was used to manage the data, and a directed content analysis was performed to extract themes. Five nurturing care needs of parents of children with autism were extracted, including acquisition of health- and disorder-related knowledge and information, maintenance of psychological and physical wellbeing, desire for individualised caregiver skills training, creation of multi-agent social support network, and accessibility of high-quality and coordinated services. Parents of children with autism have multidimensional unmet nurturing care needs. It is crucial to address these needs and develop targeted family support programs with consideration of the extracted need components. This study implies that health education, parental empowerment and psychological support should be prioritised in future family support programs. The findings also emphasise the importance of establishing a cross-departmental coordination mechanism and building a multi-agent social support network for families of children with autism. This study expands our understanding on the support needs of families of children with autism and enriches the theoretical connotation of nurturing care framework, and the results may inform the development of tailored support programs for families of children with autism in China. The results are reported in accordance with the reporting guidelines of the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ). No patient and public contribution.
Published Version
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