Service use and perceptions of service effectiveness by parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities: comparing Jewish and Arab Israeli parental caregivers.
Arab Israeli caregivers use fewer education and social services than Jewish peers, even though they rate them just as effective.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked 204 Israeli parents of adults with intellectual disability about the services they use. Half were Jewish, half Arab. Parents rated how easy it was to get each service and how well it worked.
The team compared answers between the two groups. They looked at health, education, and social services.
What they found
Both groups said the services work about the same. Arab parents found health services easier to reach. Yet they used education and social services less often than Jewish parents.
No one reported big quality gaps. The gap was in use, not in satisfaction.
How this fits with other research
In-Lee et al. (2012) show exercise programs help adults with ID when run four times a week. Werner (2019) hints that Arab families may not even reach these programs, so the benefit never reaches them.
Bhaumik et al. (2009) found family carers hold stricter views on sexuality than paid staff. The new data add culture as another layer that shapes which services families accept.
Modi et al. (2015) found aggression drives inpatient admission, not ethnicity. Werner (2019) shows ethnicity does shape everyday community use. Together they say: clinical traits open hospital doors; cultural traits open day-program doors.
Why it matters
You may think a family skips services because they dislike quality. This study says check access first. Arab caregivers liked the services they reached, so invite them in. Translate flyers, provide transport, schedule around holidays, and ask religious leaders to endorse programs. Small outreach steps can close the use gap without changing the service itself.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The relationship between ethnicity, service use and perceptions of service effectiveness is inconclusive. This study examined differences in service use and perceptions of service effectiveness between Israeli Jewish (Jewish) and Israeli Arab (Arab) parental caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities and dual diagnosis of psychopathology. METHODS: Parental caregivers (n = 186) of individuals with intellectual disabilities or dual diagnosis, aged 10 to 30 years, completed a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: Arab parental caregivers perceived health services to be more accessible than did Jewish caregivers, but there was no difference between the two groups in the use of the services. Overall, greater enabling factors and accessibility were associated with higher use of education and social services. No differences were found between the groups in their perceptions of service effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Arab family caregivers use education and social services less than do their Jewish peers, possibly because they have fewer enabling resources. The finding that both groups reported similar use of health services may be explained by a shared perception that informal help may not be suitable for dealing with situations of psychopathology. The similar perceptions of service effectiveness may be explained by extensive services available in Israel, to the satisfaction of both groups, or by the fact that participants perceived these services as their only alternative, and therefore fear losing them.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2019 · doi:10.1111/jir.12611