Date of Award:

5-2008

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Special Education and Rehabilitation

Advisor/Chair:

Charles L Salzberg

Abstract

Parents of children with disabilities need accurate information to help them provide tailored services and supports to their families. This is especially true for immigrant Latino families who tend to experience poor overall health and who tend to avoid formal services and supports. Based on input gathered from Latino parents of children with disabilities, a three module curriculum, 'Empowering Families,' was developed. Following a cultural appropriateness review of the curriculum and associated measurement instruments, revisions were made to the content and presentation procedure. This was followed by a field test of the curriculum with two groups of Latino parents/caregivers of children with developmental disabilities. Results from the training sessions with both groups indicate that the training resulted in moderate knowledge gains and that self-reported healthy lifestyle behaviors experienced minimal improvement. Overall health status was essentially unchanged. Participants rated the content very highly in terms of cultural appropriateness and usefulness.

Copyright for this work is retained by the student.