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Supporting the Caregivers of Children With Developmental Disabilities in a Low‐Resource Setting: What Are Their Needs?

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Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities

Published online on

Abstract

["Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 39, Issue 4, July 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\n\nBackground\nCaregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) often face unmet needs that affect caregiving. This study explored the needs of such caregivers.\n\n\nMethods\nA descriptive qualitative design was employed for this study. Caregivers of children with DD attending the Neurodevelopmental Clinic at Korle‐Bu Teaching Hospital were purposively selected. Data were collected through semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews until saturation was achieved with fourteen (14) participants. The interviews were conducted between October 2021 and January 2022, and data were analysed using thematic analysis.\n\n\nResults\nFour themes emerged: informational and training support, financial support, psychospiritual support and social support needs. Caregivers required comprehensive information and practical skills, financial assistance to meet care demands, psychological counselling and spiritual guidance to strengthen resilience and support from family, friends and community networks to ease caregiving burdens.\n\n\nConclusion\nCaregivers of children with DD have diverse unmet needs. Policies and programmes addressing these needs are essential to improve caregiver well‐being and quality of life.\n\n"]