Description
The project aims to support the families with children with profound disabilities and complex special needs (SENC). Parents experience enormous stress in fulfilling their parental role for their SENC. Our experience confirms that, without targeted and sustained specific support of such families, the long-term stress leads to breakdown in family care and the institutionalization of children. Main goal is to support a functional family, increase range of information and qualification for families SENC so they could take care of their child as long as possible within the natural family environment and in the same time enable them to benefit from life. This should be achieved by the 5 week-long sessions the programme of which comprises motivating activities for both the SENC and their peers, and for their parents. At the end a survey is carried out, the findings are summarised, analysed and will serve as a basis for editing a methodical guide distributed to our clubs/poss. other Czech NGOs.
Summary of project results
Taking care of a child with profound disability (CPD) is a very demanding process which represents big psychological burden for the intact members of the family.In case the families are not supported sufficiently and provided with necessary information, they are in risk of psychological and physical exhaustion typical for persons who take long care of close relatives which finally leads to the decision to solve their critical life situation by choosing institutional care for their CPD instead of providing him/her with the family care. The project has been aimed on the family taking care of a CPD as a whole – i.e. on the parents of the child with disability (CD) and their siblings. The project delivered and verified in practice the targeted and structuralised programme focussed on activation of CPDs, on education and support of their parents and siblings in how to cope with the difficult life situations. We realised 5 longer-stay motivation and activation programmes in various parts of the Czech Republic. Some 56 persons taking care of a CD and 26 siblings took the active part in the project. As a part of the project we prepared and distributed the methodology guidebook “The Methods How to Organize the Motivation and Activation Longer-stay Programmes for Families with CPD” that is ready to help everyone who is planning to organize the programme of that kind. The experiences from the project will be also used by our regional clubs in which the longer-stay programmes for families with a CD are being organized each year.The project strengthened the integrity and inner cohesion of the family; it provided the parents of children with profound disability with deeper knowledge and expertise which are the necessary prerequisites for creating appropriate conditions for successful development of the child in the family settings without being dependent on the institutional care with respect to the individual needs of the child and the family members.
Summary of bilateral results