Effectiveness of Tailored Educational Resources for American Military Parents of a Child with a Disability: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Background: This preliminary study attempted to address gaps and challenges military parents of a child with a disability experience. Through educational resource dissemination, the study hoped to increase caregiver knowledge of DIR, increase parent confidence for carryover of DIR, and increase satisfaction of OT services within a Pediatric Therapy clinic in Italy serving American military families. Methods: Five parents receiving services at a pediatric therapy clinic based in Italy participated in the pilot study. A pre and post survey was administered assessing parents’ satisfaction, knowledge, and confidence with the Developmental-Individual Difference and Relationship (DIR) Model before and after dissemination of educational resources. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to compare means of the change in satisfaction, knowledge, and confidence and means of the change in parent’s overall scores. Results: One parent demonstrated a clinically significant change in overall results from pre to post. There was not a statistically significant difference between pre and post for the group in satisfaction, knowledge, and confidence. Conclusions: This study was a preliminary attempt to further understand the experience of military parents of a child with a disability as well as increase availability of resources for this underserved and at-risk population. Findings suggest that tailored educational resources were slightly effective in increasing knowledge and provided insight into future research opportunities.