Resource utilization by children with developmental disabilities in Kenya: discrepancy analysis of parents' expectation-to-importance appraisals.
Kenyan parents say schools and job services are crucial yet unavailable—put these at the top of your resource list.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mutua et al. (2002) asked Kenyan parents of kids with developmental disabilities to rate eight services. Parents scored how important each service is and how much they expect to actually get it.
The survey covered health care, therapy, education, jobs, money help, transport, respite, and counseling.
What they found
For five of the eight services, parents said "very important" and also "I expect to get it."
The biggest mismatches were school programs and job services. Parents called these extremely important but did not expect to receive them.
How this fits with other research
Vazquez et al. (2019) used the same survey tool with parents stateside. They also found parents care most about services they can actually use, backing up the Kenyan mismatch pattern.
Heinicke et al. (2012) reviewed job-training studies and showed self-management works when it is offered. The Kenyan gap shows the offer rarely happens.
Shire et al. (2016) proved parent coaching boosts child engagement. Kagendo’s data say Kenyan families want that kind of help, but programs are scarce.
Why it matters
If you consult in low-resource areas, start by asking parents to rank importance versus expected use. You will spot the same gaps: schooling and employment. Build your grant, training, or advocacy plan around those two pain points first.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe parental perceptions of eight physical and human resources available to meet the needs of children with developmental disabilities in Kenya. Specifically, the study assessed the discrepancy between the importance parents attached to specified resources and the expected use of those resources by their children with developmental disabilities. Discrepancy analysis was conducted on parents' expectation-to-importance appraisals of eight resources identified in previous research including, health, education, friendships, husband/wife, religious organization, community membership/acceptance, employment/work, and home. Overall, parental appraisal of likely access-to-importance was significantly related across all eight physical and human resource areas. Discrepancy scores ranged from negative, through zero, to positive, categorized underutilized, congruent, and over-utilized, respectively. Chi-square analyses were non-significant for gender across all resources with only slight gender differences noted on three resources. Most parents reported a match between expected use and importance in five of the eight community resources, health (57.4%), friends (54.6%), religious affiliation (59.8%), acceptance in the community (60.3%), and having one's own home (62.6%). However, "husband/wife" fell outside the congruent range (50.4%), with slight gender differences noted. Finally, two resource areas where the majority of parents reported noncongruence were educational programs and employment/career service.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2002 · doi:10.1016/s0891-4222(02)00097-5