Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have found that mothers who integrate the care needs of their technology-dependent child into the larger family life have families that then function more productively.  Valerie Toly was the lead researcher on the study, “A Longitudinal Study of Family with Technology–Dependent Children” published in the journal of Research in Nursing & Health.

Studying 82 mothers with technology-dependent children who had issues like cerebral palsy, the researchers interviewed the mothers during visits to a hospital’s specialty clinic and then gave them six surveys after they left the hospital. They were then interviewed again 12 months after the first set of interviews.

Toly explained that the study included children who “are in high risk, vulnerable group.” She said that “3 children died in the one year span of time between interviews and one mother died. This is much higher than the general population.”

Toly explained that the perception of the child’s illness is of paramount importance. The researchers found that integrating the technology-dependent child into regular family events is critically important. As Toly explained, “Mothers integrate technology-dependent child into the family by being flexible about when to give medications or food.”

Certainly, it’s a detailed juggling act to keep the needs of the entire family in mind, and to juggle that along with the needs of the cerebral palsy child.  Interestingly enough, Toly explained that, “A mother’s depression plays a greater role in family functioning than the child’s severity of illness.”

Toly said that there is still much work to be done to understand how families deal with their everyday lives in the face of such hurdles, but researchers are beginning to uncover tools to help parents to cope and to integrate these children into the family picture.

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