Journal of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Exploring the Parental Experiences in the Media: A Qualitative Analysis of Articles Written by Parents of Children with Autism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Elvira Celebic — 2023-03-21

Aim: This paper presents a qualitative study of the experiences of parents raising children with autism, as reflected in the media. The study aimed to explore the lived experiences of parents of children with autism and the challenges they face in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Methods: A content analysis of 20 media articles featuring parents of autistic children was conducted. The articles were selected from a range of sources, including newspapers, magazines, and online news portals.

Results: We identified four major themes: supports, education, spousal relationships, and future. It should be noted that these themes are often intertwined.

Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of providing support and resources to parents of children with autism, as well as the need for greater awareness and understanding of the challenges they face. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.

Measuring the impact of employment on persons with a disability as a means of improving the quality of employment outcomes

Peter Smith — 2023-03-20

Aim: Current measures for disability employment focus on system outputs, not individual outcomes. This paper proposes an employment outcome measurement approach based on social quality theory as a means of improving the quality of employment outcomes for individuals.

Introduction: There is a paucity of government policies that promote practices which address the measurement of employment outcomes that reflect the goals of the individual. While there has been a recent trend towards a focus on quality of life as an outcome, process measurement and compliance to procedural regulations are still dominant.

Method: A scoping review of disability employment research from the year 2000 revealed only eleven papers which specifically addressed approaches to measuring disability employment outcomes at an individual impact level. Overall, the search failed to highlight any measure that focused on the impact of employment on the individual with existing measures focused on process measurement.

Conclusion: An outcomes-based approach, based on the four pillars of social quality theory, namely, social inclusion, social cohesion, self-determination, and social-economic security provide an opportunity to shift disability employment service provision towards individual outcomes rather than its existing focus on system outputs as a measure of success.

A COST Action to address challenges facing people with intellectual disabilities accessing cancer prevention and response services across Europe – Introducing CUPID - Cancer- Understanding Prevention in Intellectual Disabilities.

John Wells — 2023-01-14

COST Actions are grants provided by the European Union to support the establishment of networks of expertise to explore and address a scientific or social issue that impacts across Europe. This article introduces and describes one such action that started in October 2022 - CUPID - will address issues of policy and equity of access to cancer prevention initiatives by people with intellectual disabilities compared to the general population in Europe. With 82 individual members drawn from 30 countries CUPID will establish an interdisciplinary network of stakeholders representing carers, service providers, advocacy groups, educators, healthcare professionals, researchers and people with intellectual disabilities. The CUPID COST Action will be implemented over four years and will identify what needs to be addressed by the European Union and health and social services to improve cancer prevention among people with intellectual disabilities.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Literature Review and Case Illustrations

China Parenteau — 2023-01-07

Introduction: Irritability has become increasingly prevalent over the past few decades and is often seen in both children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Despite this overlap, there has been scant research on treatment for irritability experienced by individuals with co-occurring ASD and DMDD.

Objectives: This paper aims to explore the development of DMDD and to shed light on potential treatment regimens that address irritability through case illustrations of individuals who experience co-occurring ASD and DMDD.

Methods: Three patients seen through a specialty clinic were selected based on their co-occurring diagnoses of ASD & DMDD.

Conclusions: The case illustrations showed that ASD and DMDD often also occurred in the presence of other disorders. Antipsychotics and CBT have shown the most benefits, but mood stabilizers are becoming more prominent for certain combinations of ASD and DMDD. More research is needed on treatment for irritability across co-occurring disorders.

Assessing adults with neuroatypical conditions suspected of having dementia

Matthew Janicki — 2022-12-05

Dementia is increasing as nations’ populations across the world age and older adults survive in increasing number. Dementia has various etiologies and forms of expression thus accurate diagnosis is always a challenge. Detection of any adult-age cognitive impairment in health care settings is difficult in general but can be especially challenging among adults with neuroatypical or neurodivergent conditions (NACs). Most clinical guidelines/protocols applicable to the general population for assessing mild cognitive impairment or dementia do not include considerations when assessing adults with NACs. This article addresses the obstacles to early detection and assessment of adults with NACs and recounts what one national group undertook to raise awareness of this obstacle. These conditions often present assessment challenges as adults with NACs often have problems with comprehension, oral communication, motor task performance, recognition of assessment related visuals, and comfort in testing situations. Clinicians assessing adults with NACs face challenges due to an inappropriateness of using standardized dementia assessment measures, are often untrained or unfamiliar with discerning pre-existing conditions from new cognitive impairment and are uninformed as to how to adapt the testing situation. The investigation into NACs and dementia assessment lead to a series of recommendations to raise awareness among clinicians, seek to enlist professional organizations in adapting existing instruments, and increase research into NACs and dementia.