This study examines the utilization of a therapeutic summer camp for children
with disabilities as a respite care provider for parents of camp participants. Interviews
were conducted with nine parents, from seven different families of recent camp
participants at Camp LIFE, a camp for children with disabilities located in Burton, TX.
The interviews were qualitative in nature, and utilized Atlas.ti research software to guide
the data analysis process.
The findings centered on five areas: the daily life of a family with a disabled
child, the respite needs of these families, the value of respite care in general, the value of
respite as provided by Camp LIFE in particular (both while the child attended camp, as
well as after the child returned home), the qualities of Camp LIFE that contributed to
respite, and suggestions from parents for improvement of service provision. These
findings suggest that, as has been found in previous research, raising a child with a
disability is often difficult; however, this study found that none of the parents would opt
to alter their situation, given the opportunity. It was also reported by parents that respite
care is often hard to obtain (for a variety of reasons), but that it is a much-needed and desired service. In terms of Camp LIFE, the interviews showed that the parents did see
the camp as a source of respite care, and that each family "did something" with the time
their child was at camp in such a way as to maximize these respite benefits.
This study is in agreement with an argument raised by previous research; that
overnight therapeutic camps are a much-valued source of rest for many parents, and that
without such respite, parents would report much higher levels of stress related to the care
of a disabled child. Further research should be conducted which further examines the
specific processes that allow parents to feel comfortable with obtaining respite from
therapeutic camps, as well as research into ways to provide financial support and
assistance to further the ability of these camps to provide such services.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-12-7478 |
| Date | 2009 December 1900 |
| Creators | Shelton, Kyle J. |
| Contributors | Witt, Peter A. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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