Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

Abstract

Background: ADHD is a neurodevelopment disorder with three core symptoms-inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity-that affect both cognitive and behavioral functioning in academic, social and family contexts. ADHD places a heavy burden on the child, the family, and the other care givers. Significance understanding the experience of primary caregivers raising school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD would provide additional information from which to create effective interventions. Purpose: to investigate and describe the experience of the adults that interact on a daily basis with school-aged children with ADHD, who are mothers and teachers. And to understand management practices that are used by mothers and teachers to deal with the most prominent signs of ADHD in order to formulate a care plan. Method: A qualitative descriptive phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling, four children diagnosed with ADHD were selected. The sample was four mothers and 12 teachers (3 teachers for each child). Data collection was conducted through in-depth, face-to-face interviews recorded on audiotape and field notes. Each interview lasted about 1 hour. The unstructured interview guide allowed large health care providers to talk about their experiences of raising school-age children with ADHD. Data analyzed by Giorgi phenomenological psychology approach. Results: Three major themes emerged from the mothers� interviews: (1) the burden of caring (2) inadequate support (3) disturbances of the child's behavior. Five major themes emerged from the teachers� interviews: (1) lack of information (2) child�s behaviors disruptive (3) the lack of resources (4) lack of support (5) the burden of having the child in the class Conclusion: There were clear defects in the knowledge, understanding, services provided for the children, and available support for the care givers. Improving services in terms of family and school care should be a major concern. Relevance to clinical practice:The recommendations made on the basis of the results can be used as a guide to improve the delivery of care services for children with ADHD.

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