Abstract
Presence of a child with disability determines a family functioning in all dimensions and child care is a source of stress and burden for all family members. The optimal social network, which is the source of social support, greatly eliminates stress and improves adaptation of the parents to the disability of their child. The aim of study is to define how parents of children with disabilities perceive the usefulness of formal and informal source of social support. A quantitative research strategy has been used in the study, more specifically a standardised questionnaire Family Support Scale (by Dunst, Jenkins and Trivette (1984)). 493 parents of children with different types of disabilities were enrolled in the study. The results show that informal support in the form of a partner and close people has been perceived as the most useful. Programmes and organisations have been estimated as the least useful source of support in the parents' viewpoint. A significant difference was detected in the perceived usefulness of formal and informal source of support in terms of housing, marital status and education.
Highlights
Any change of health state of the child within the family system represents a serious, often crisis situation that has an influence on its individual members and determines the family as a system
Our research was oriented to finding out how respondents perceive the usefulness of formal and informal sources of social support
Even according to Krivohlavý [31], from the point of view of social support the most important are people who are closest to the person and who belong to the innermost circle of their friends
Summary
Any change of health state of the child within the family system represents a serious, often crisis situation that has an influence on its individual members and determines the family as a system. Parents have to cope with the demanding process of adaptation, adapt to the specific needs of the child that follow from disability itself. Very often they have to deal with an issue of day-to-day care and put up with the daily strain in relation with their work and personal lives [1]. The childcare with disabilities influences the physical well-being of the parent, their social well-being, freedom and independence, family well-being and financial stability [6] It changes the social functioning of the family and its quality of life [7]. This includes material-economic as well as psycho-emotional aspects [8]
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