Caregiver Burden and Family Quality of Life in Early Intervention: The Role of Mothers and Family Confidence.

(1) Background: Because life events when there is a family member with a disability can affect the overall family wellbeing, contributing to enhance family quality of life (FQoL) in the field of early childhood intervention has become a priority. However, it is a distal outcome that needs other short-term outcomes to be addressed, some of them under the potential impact of support services. This study examines the relationships between caregiver burden, family confidence, and FQoL, as well as the influence of child and family variables. (2) Method: A total of 58 families with children in early intervention from four Spanish communities participated. Hierarchical regression was conducted to assess the relevance of each predictor. Also, a mediation was performed to investigate the mediating role of family confidence. (3) Results: The family income impacted FQoL scores, and when burden and confidence were added, it was no longer relevant. Mothers with higher levels of confidence predicted a higher FQoL. Finally, we found a complete mediation of family confidence in the relations between severity and caregiver burden on FQoL. (4) Conclusions: Caregiver burden and family confidence affect FQoL. Building families' confidence contributes to attenuating the impact of burden on FQoL.

Atención temprana y prácticas centradas en la familia: a propósito de un caso / Early intervention and family-centered practice: a case report

En atención temprana la evidencia científica pone de manifiesto la eficacia y eficiencia de las prácticas centradas en la familia y en entornos naturales. Las intervenciones con niños que padecen una discapacidad o se encuentran en una situación de riesgo deben permitir la participación de las familias y/o los profesores. Las prácticas que generan competencias en los cuidadores del niño son las que favorecen el desarrollo en sus rutinas y contextos habituales. En este trabajo presentamos el análisis de un caso que ejemplifica cómo los aspectos teóricos pueden trasladarse a la esfera de la práctica diaria. Se muestran los aspectos clave de la intervención con prácticas centradas en la familia y en entornos naturales siguiendo el modelo basado en rutinas. Se describen el plan individual de apoyo a la familia y los apoyos educativos de una niña desde su evaluación inicial, descripción de objetivos funcionales, plan de intervención y seguimiento. Como resultado de la intervención, se observa una mejora en el desarrollo funcional de la pequeña y tanto la familia como la profesora se sienten más competentes, empoderados y con mejor calidad de vida familiar. Queda reflejada la importancia del trabajo transdisciplinar, la colaboración entre diferentes agentes sociales y el indiscutible papel de la familia durante todo el proceso (AU)

Scientific evidence demonstrates in Early Intervention the effectiveness and efficiency of family-centered practices and natural environments. Interventions with children who have a disability or are at a risk should allow participation of families and/or teachers. The practices must generate skills in the child's caregivers to promote the development of their usual routines and contexts. This paper presents the analysis of a case that exemplifies how the theoretical aspects can be transferred to the sphere of daily practice. We use de Routines Based Model to shown the intervention. The Individual Family Support Plan describes the service: Initial assessment, functional objectives, intervention plan and monitoring. As a result of the intervention, we can see the improvement in the functional development and we observe the family and the teacher feel more competent, empowered and better family quality of family life. The importance of transdisciplinary work, collaboration between different social agents and the undisputed role of the family throughout the process is reflected (AU)