Catana Brown PhD, OTR, FAOTA Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ.
Ruth S. Farber, PhD, OTR/L...Ruth S. Farber, PhD, OTR/L Salus University, Philadelphia, USA Margaret...
Transcript of Ruth S. Farber, PhD, OTR/L...Ruth S. Farber, PhD, OTR/L Salus University, Philadelphia, USA Margaret...
Ruth S. Farber, PhD, OTR/L Salus University, Philadelphia, USA
Margaret L. Kern, PhD Centre for Positive Psychology The University of Melbourne
! A salient role for most women with or without a disability/chronic illness " I feel that I might appreciate my time with my
daughter more, appreciate my mobility/ability to play more than other mothers who do not have an illness
! Requires orchestrating physical, psychological, social, and cognitive activities with and
for their children. . . need positive engagement/participation
! MS often diagnosed during peak childrearing years
! New treatments help with functioning
! But raising children remains complicated
! Many women find creative ways to participate/be engaged in salient roles**
! Two types: period (relapse/remit MS) and continuing (progressive MS)
! As clinicians we need to know how to help woman thrive despite challenges of the disease
Social interaction: (Environment Mastery)
Experience community or family as
Normalizing Son is “my royal footman”
or Marginalizing
Participation: Individually valued, culturally common maternal practices
“Doing what mothers Do”
Experience of Self (Self-Acceptance):
Subjective experience of being a mother & having a disability
“just a little disability” or not
Changes Over time
Initial Qualitative Finding: Mothers with Chronic Illnesses/Disabilities: Farber, 2000, 2004
! Encouraging participation(functioning and engagement), as well as satisfaction with this participation is important for the lives of mothers who experienced a chronic condition. " “As I am writing this it is snowing. Going out and
playing in the snow is hard in a wheelchair, but I have managed to hit my kids with a pretty good snowball.”
! To do this mothers with MS may even need to have a more robust sense of self/well-being (and or social support) to continue this participation.
Environmental Factors
Social support
Positive Personal Factors
(Wellbeing scale)
Greater Role Participation
Physical/Emotional
Parental Satisfaction
! 111 community-dwelling mothers with MS " Primarily solicited through NMSS newsletter " At least one child 12 or under
! Type of MS: " Relapse remit=101 " Progressive=10 " Unknown=7
1.POSITIVE PERSONAL FACTORS: " Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff & Singer, 2006) ! Environmental mastery ! Self-acceptance ! Purpose in Life ! Positive relations ! Autonomy ! Personal growth
2. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS (Support & Relationships): ! Social Support: MOS, Social Support Scale (Sherbourne & Stewart,1991)
3. ROLE PARTICIPATION " Health-related quality of life scale (SF-36) " Role-emotional, Role-physical scale.
4. SATISFACTION WITH PARENTING # Parental Participation Scale(PPS) (Farber, 2008)
! Hierarchical regression analyses tested unique effects of social support and positive (psychological) personal factors (self-acceptance, environmental mastery & purpose in life) on role participation and satisfaction with parenting.
! Additional analyses: Tested synergistic combination of social support and positive personal factors.
! Social support explained 35-44% of variance in each outcome
! Positive personal factors(self-acceptance and environmental mastery) explained an additional 9-17%.
! Synergistic effect: the combination of social support and positive factors (environmental mastery, self-acceptance, & purpose in life) predicted greater role function and satisfaction with parenting than either alone.
! Mastery, social support and physical role function
! Purpose, social support and emotion role function
! Self-acceptance, social support parental satisfaction
! Both social support & positive personal (psychological) factors uniquely predicted greater physical & emotional role function and parental satisfaction
! Combination of social support with high self-acceptance, purpose, and environmental mastery are best.
! “I rely on the ‘village. ’When I can’t do all that needs to be done… my son really does have a village of people looking out for him. This support is critical in facilitating how positive I feel about mothering.”
! “I have a cooling vest to wear when I take the children out for walks so that my MS is not so affected by hot weather”
! I truly believe my children are growing up more self-sufficient and independent because I can not do as much for them. By gently and politely asking for their help, when needed and trying not to over-ask, my children almost always respond without a fuss.. .
! They’ve grown accustom to certain ways of walking with me, a shoulder to gentle support from the younger ones, an arm from the older one.
!
! Now instinctively my children are much more aware of the many small ways they can help some one-holding a door, running an errand, offering a hand. And they see how helpful others are, always with a smile on their faces and feeling of warmth. . .
! One fun thing is taking advantage of the handicapped cut lines at the amusement park. Mom can get the family onto rides much quicker and some for two rides in a row.
! Developing framework to help women with MS cultivate fuller & more satisfying lives
! Demonstrating the value of incorporating a positive psychological focus into clinical/rehabilitation practices.
! Practitioners might focus on building, social support, environmental mastery and developing high quality social support