Why do families relinquish care? An investigation of the factors that lead to relinquishment into out-of-home respite care.
Parent-training plus tight case management during respite can stop a short break from turning into permanent placement.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Leung et al. (2011) interviewed the families who had placed a child with intellectual disability into out-of-home respite care. They asked why the placement happened and how everyone felt afterward.
The team also tracked what services each family used before and after the move.
What they found
Most parents said they gave up daily care because they were exhausted, had little help, and feared they might hurt their child. Money problems and poor case coordination made things worse.
At first parents felt deep guilt. Six months later most said the child was safer and the family was calmer. They still wished someone had taught them coping skills earlier.
How this fits with other research
Benderix et al. (2006) told a single-family story and saw the same arc: early grief, later relief. The two studies act like repeats of the same natural experiment, boosting our trust in the pattern.
Giofrè et al. (2014) surveyed the families and found high social support and low money stress kept kids at home. K’s families had the opposite profile, showing why respite turned into full relinquishment.
Capio et al. (2013) showed that when parents carry three or more life risks they often drop out of parent-training classes. K adds that without such classes these same families may later surrender care altogether.
Why it matters
You can spot the risk early. When you see stacked stressors—no sleep, no money, no respite, weak team talk—add brief parent-training sessions and push for more planned respite before the crisis hits. One extra hour per week of skill coaching and case management may keep the child home and the family intact.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Families/carers relinquishing the care of family members with a disability into the care of out-of-home respite facilities is an under-researched area in the disability field. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to explore the factors that lead to families relinquishing care, the potential early indicators that families are considering relinquishment; the factors that may prevent relinquishment and the outcomes for families/carers after relinquishment occurs. METHOD: Thirty-two client files (of individuals for whom families have relinquished their care in a defined 12-month period) were reviewed for information around their relinquishment into out-of-home respite care facilities for an extended stay. Staff members involved with these families (a total of 17) were also interviewed to provide more information. RESULTS: A thematic analysis of the results found that the factors that led to relinquishment could be categorised into: (1) characteristics inherent to the individual with intellectual disability; (2) characteristics inherent to the family/carer; and (3) characteristics associated with the support context that the carer/family is currently experiencing. It was also found that families'/carers' experienced positive outcomes after relinquishment had occurred; however, feelings of guilt and mourning were initially felt. CONCLUSIONS: Extra supports (e.g. increased respite care, planning for movement of the family member into out-of-home permanent accommodation and case management) and positive interventions such as parent training were highlighted as potential strategies to achieve more lasting benefits from short-stay out-of-home respite care.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2011 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01389.x