Assess Knowledge, Practice, and Stress levels among Care Givers of children with autism at Beni-Suef City

Kamal Abd Elhamed, Safaa; S. Ismeal, Marwa; Abd Elaziemmo Hamed, Amel; Abdel Kader Ahmed, Mervat

doi:10.21608/ejhc.2023.346150

Assess Knowledge, Practice, and Stress levels among Care Givers of children with autism at Beni-Suef City

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ B.Sc. in Nursing, Clinical Instructor at Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University

² Lecturer of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University

³ Assistant Professor of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University

10.21608/ejhc.2023.346150

Abstract

Background: Caregivers of children with autism face a series of challenges. Lack of awareness or inaccurate information regarding autism spectrum disorder prevents Caregivers from noticing the early signs of autism and also experience high levels of stress Aim: This study aimed to Assess caregivers who have children with autism Knowledge, Practices, Stress, and coping strategies methods Design: Descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized in this study. Setting: The current study was conducted in the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Beni-Suef University Hospital, the conversational patient in insurance health l, Alwan Special Center, Kian Special Center, right to Life Private Association, and Dar Al-Shifa Foundation Sample: A convenience sample of one hundred caregivers Tools: Three tools were used for data collection, First tool structured interviewing questionnaire to assess socio-demographic data and Caregivers’ knowledge, Second tool Caregivers’ practice. The third tool assesses Stress and coping Strategies. Results: the majority of studied caregivers were female, more than half had basic education, (and 90%) of studied caregivers had an unsatisfactory knowledge level. 46% of studied caregivers had moderate stress levels, and All of the studied caregivers had incompetent practice levels. 72% of studied caregivers had high coping levels Conclusion The knowledge and practices of the studied caregivers regarding caring for their children with autism were incompetent. nearly half of the sample suffered from moderate stress levels, the other had nearly a quarter of them had high coping strategies for dealing with the problem Recommendations: The necessity of Providing health education, and counseling programs to improve caregivers' knowledge, skills, and coping patterns toward the care of their children with autism

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