Psychosocial effect and economic burden on parents of children with locomotor disability.

ABSTRACT

Objective. To assess the social and financial burden on parents of children with locomotor disability. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Institute for Physically Handicapped (IPH), Delhi, where parents of 100 locomotor disabled children of age group 6 to 15 years were interviewed to estimate the socioeconomic burden of caregiving their children. Results. The study observed that the parents of the disabled children were severely burdened in terms of financial burden and mental health. Conclusions. There is an urgent need for support activities for such families at a national level in order to curb the huge economic and social burden of care-giving. Counselling should be an integral part of rehabilitat ion for such families.