Quality of Life of and Its Predictors Among Caregivers of Children With Developmental Disorders.
Rural Thai caregivers of kids with developmental delays need five core supports—health, welfare, education, social, and information—with grandparents requiring special attention when parents migrate.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team talked with rural Thai caregivers of kids with developmental delays.
They asked open questions about daily life, money, health, school, and help they get.
From the talks they sorted answers into 19 need groups inside five big areas.
What they found
Caregivers said five things are missing: health care, welfare cash, school help, social ties, and clear facts.
Grandparents who take over when parents move for work need their own set of aids.
Specialist doctors and money aid were the hardest to find.
How this fits with other research
Ten Hoopen et al. (2025) dug into one of the gaps Saman lists—respite care—and counted 15 blocks families hit when they try to book it.
Hutchins et al. (2020) used a short survey and showed caregiver health-related quality of life is low; Saman’s open talks explain why the numbers are low.
Lupón et al. (2023) also used long talks, but with parents of kids who are blind; both studies find the same pain points—money, mood, and no support—showing the trouble crosses disability types.
Why it matters
Use the five need areas as a quick intake checklist. Ask about each gap, then match families to health, cash, school, social, and info resources. Flag grandparent-led homes for extra help. This turns a long interview list into a fast action plan.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a five-question caregiver screener to your intake form and circle any missing area for immediate referral.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
<b>Objective:</b> This study aimed to identify and classify the needs of caregivers of children with disabilities living in resource-limited settings and develop a framework for need assessment. <b>Participants and Methods:</b> This study was conducted in the Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand, with 15 caregivers caring for children with disabilities recruited from hospitals, the Association for the Disabled, and primary health centers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in local dialects, recorded, transcribed, converted into standard Thai, and then into English for thematic analysis. Meaning units corresponding to caregivers' needs were extracted, interpreted, coded, and hierarchically organized into subcategories by comparing similarities and differences among the extracted codes. The subcategories were further grouped and abstracted into categories, and then domains of caregivers' needs were formed. <b>Results:</b> Nineteen categories were identified across five domains of caregivers' needs: health and medical, welfare, educational, social, and informational. Although basic medical treatment was covered, specific support, such as referral to a specialist, rehabilitation, or psychological support, was limited. Financial support and relief from the care burden are the main welfare needs. Educational needs were identified to provide knowledge to children and to offer respite to their caregivers. Social needs revealed ethical problems that arose because of strong rural community ties, making it difficult to maintain privacy. Informational needs were intertwined with the other four domains. In rural areas, where parents of children with disabilities migrate to cities to find work, the special needs of grandparents who were primary caregivers of the children needed to be addressed. <b>Conclusion:</b> This study provides a conceptual framework for comprehensive needs assessment and policy development for caregivers of children with disabilities living in resource-limited settings.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026 · doi:10.2185/jrm.2021-062