Challenges, coping and resilience in caring for children with disability among immigrant parents: A mixed methods study.

AIMS: To examine the relationships between challenges, coping and resilience among immigrant parents caring for their children with disabilities; and to explore their coping and resilient experiences and the service centre providers' perspectives on these. DESIGN: A sequential explanatory mixed methods study. METHODS: The participants were recruited from seven centres of disability service in Australia between May 2019 and February 2020. Phase 1 consisted of a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from 134 immigrant parents. Phase 2 consisted of semi-structured interviews. Data were collected from nine immigrant parents and nine service providers. The findings from each phase were analysed separately and then integrated to answer the research aims. RESULTS: Immigrant parents experienced challenges such as overwhelming caretaking responsibilities, lack of supportive social networks and feeling embarrassment over their children's behaviours. They used a variety of coping strategies, including reframing and mobilizing family to acquire and accept help from others to overcome their challenges. They had positive gains from the parental experience. Immigrant parents had a reasonable level of resilience. Those with a higher level of perceived challenges had a lower level of coping and resilience. Perceived barriers to parental coping included barriers to establishing social networks and utilizing available disability services. Services from competent service providers and the availability of social support networks were factors facilitating immigrant parents' coping. CONCLUSION: Sensitive communication and culturally appropriate care provided by service providers and healthcare professionals can facilitate service utilization and reduce perceived stigma over children with disability. IMPACT: Findings from the study support that special training provided to healthcare providers about the challenges of immigrant parents raising children with disabilities may enhance awareness of the experience of these parents. Information and instrumental support may help to enhance parental coping, reduce isolation and promote their mental health. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: We thank the immigrant parents and the service providers who have been instrumental in the conception of this study.

Challenges, Coping, and Resilience Among Immigrant Parents Caring for a Child With a Disability: An Integrative Review.

PURPOSE: The aim of this integrative review is to synthesize quantitative and qualitative research evidence on challenges in caring for a child with a disability among immigrant parents and to understand their coping strategies and resiliency factors associated with their coping. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies from the following databases: MEDLINE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, PsycINFO, Social work abstract, Cochrane library, and EMBASE. FINDINGS: This review included 25 studies: 1 quantitative, 23 qualitative, and 1 narrative review. The main challenges that parents faced were language barriers, financial hardships, service utilization challenges, poor adaptation to new culture, stigma related to mental illness, discrimination, and social isolation. This review found poor communication and lack of cultural awareness among some healthcare professionals. Immigrant parents used problem-focused coping, avoidance coping, spiritual coping, and social support to manage their challenges. Parents who received social, emotional, and instrumental support were more resilient. Personality traits and faith were protective factors that enhanced resilience. CONCLUSIONS: When immigration and disability are considered concurrently, the burden of care multiplies. Immigrant parents with children who have disabilities faced extra challenges related to adaptation, finance, service utilization, and stigma. Healthcare providers can play an important role in aiding these parents in service utilization and adaptation. SIGNIFICANCE: This review adds new knowledge on immigrant parents' challenges in caring for their children with disabilities. Such knowledge could help health professionals to develop supportive interventions to enhance parental coping and resilience. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Culturally appropriate and sensitive communication and care provided by healthcare providers can facilitate service utilization and reduce perceived stigma. Special training provided to healthcare providers regarding the challenges of these families may enhance awareness. Information support and parental support groups may help to enhance parental coping and reduce isolation. An interpreting service should be provided in all aspects of care.

An Examination of COVID-19 Medications' Effectiveness in Managing and Treating COVID-19 Patients: A Comparative Review.

Background: The review seeks to shed light on the administered and recommended COVID-19 treatment medications through an evaluation of their efficacy. Methods: Data were collected from key databases, including Scopus, Medline, Google Scholar, and CINAHL. Other platforms included WHO and FDA publications. The review's literature search was guided by the WHO solidarity clinical trials for COVID-19 scope and trial-assessment parameters. Results: The findings indicate that the use of antiretroviral drugs as an early treatment for COVID-19 patients has been useful. It has reduced hospital time, hastened the clinical cure period, delayed and reduced the need for mechanical and invasive ventilation, and reduced mortality rates. The use of vitamins, minerals, and supplements has been linked to increased immunity and thus offering the body a fighting chance. Nevertheless, antibiotics do not correlate with improving patients' wellbeing and are highly discouraged from the developed clinical trials. Conclusions: The review demonstrates the need for additional clinical trials with a randomized, extensive sample base and over a more extended period to examine the potential side effects of the medications administered. Critically, the findings underscore the need for vaccination as the only viable medication to limit the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread.

An innovative fever management education program for parents, caregivers, and emergency nurses.

Parents frequently present to the emergency department (ED) concerned about their child's fever. Fever management education programs have been found to improve parents' knowledge of managing fever, although no education program was identified that specifically considered parents with lower functional health literacy. This article describes the development of an easily understood children's fever management education program for parents with varying levels of health literacy. A review of existing literature and guidelines was conducted. Pictorial images and written material constrained to fifth-grade level of readability were used. Academics and ED experts confirmed the content of this evidence-based program. The education program, a combination of Digital Video Disc (DVD) and a brochure in relation to child fever management, is currently being trailed at an ED in Sydney and is appropriate for EDs or primary care settings. Tailoring education programs with plain and simple language is potentially beneficial to all parents (or caregivers) presenting to the ED with children experiencing fever. This program will provide nurses with a simple and clear fever management brochure or DVD to give to parents or caregivers with varying levels of health literacy. We envisage that this program will be continuously televised within local EDs and available for parents or caregivers to view online.