Change and Continuity: A Phenomenological Study on the Experiences of the Caregivers of Persons with Mild Mental RetardationJan Elyca D.P. Biclar, Daichi B. Iwao, Nikki C. Ladimo, Inah Stephanie E. LomotosCentro Escolar Unieristy !akati, !akati CityAbstract"his research paper disc#sses the E$periences o% the Care&iers o%Persons with !ild !ental 'etardation which is mainly %oc#sed on the li%echan&es, copin&,and contin#ity incare&iin&,participated(y seen)*+care&iers recr#ited %rom "ai& City and Lana. , Phenomenolo&icalmethod o% research was #sed in this st#dywhich aims to descri(e,#nderstand and interpret the meanin&s o% e$periences o% h#man li%e.P#rposie samplin& techni-#e was #sed wherein s#(.ects are (ased #poncare&iin& to persons with mild mental retardation/ whether %amilymem(ers, relaties or paid indiid#als. In o(tainin& the data, a 012 itemsemi2str#ct#redinteriewsched#lealon&withana#diorecorder were#sed. , letter o% permission was also presented to the respondents to haetheirconsentincond#ctin&thes#reyandsec#rethecon%identialityo%their answers. 3erall, the e$periences o% care&iers o% persons with mildmental retardation appeared to (e di%%ic#lt and challen&in& ri&ht %rom thestart yet at the same time (rin&in& a positie -#ality o% li%e encompassin&(ene%icial e%%ects s#ch as loe, pride, happiness, and stren&thenin& o% %aithto 4od in relation with their copin& strate&ies in care&iin&. 5eywords6 Care&ier, E$perience, !ental 'etardation,s o% 7808 NS3 cens#s, 789 o%Philippine pop#lation is a%%ected withario#sdisa(ilitiesand:;9o%personswith disa(ility came %rom the mostdestit#te %amilies. D#e to lack o%re&istry, there is no aaila(le data o%their e$act n#m(ers. ,ccordin& to recentestimates, mental retardationcomprises*9 o% the said pop#lation and only s dia&nosis o% their childo% hain&special needs. !ost parents>reactions start with denial (#t, willeent#ally accept it (y p#llin& socials#pport andreso#rces toadapt andtocope with the sit#ation )Coey, 7800+. Aamilies o% peoplewithspecialneeds hae di%%erent adaptin& styles andcopin& strate&ies on their dailyliin&e$periences. Parental ad.#stmenttowards their children>s conditionre-#ires in%inite loe, #nderstandin&, andpatience to oercome trials )S#(ido,7808+. =ain& someone who has thesame e$perience with the parents o%special childrencanlessenthe (#rdenand (e a(le to proide s#pport %or eachother. "ho#&h %ear and an$iety is there,seein& their children improin& anddeelopin&(rin&shappinessand.oytothe %amily )Philstar, 7808+.3n the ne&atie side, parents and%amilies o% people with special needsdeal with the .#d&ments o% others/ theirchildren>s #n#s#al (ehaiors and theirlimited reso#rces )L#mawa&, 780@+. 3neo% the main concerns o% the parents whentakin&their childo#t inp#(lic is the#npredicta(leo#t(#rststheir childmaye$hi(it. "his can ca#se ineita(lethinkin& o% others as #nmana&ea(letendencies towards the child with specialneeds. "he most common pro(lemo%%amilies o% people with special needs isthe %#t#re o% them. "hey wanted to &iethe (est %or them. "hey worry that whowill take care o% themi% theyare nolon&er liin& in this world. In thePhilippines, parents o% people withspecial needs hae %ew options in &iin&care and proidin& the needs o% theirchildren may(e (eca#se o% lack o%%inancial s#pport or lack o% aaila(lereso#rces )5oe, 780@+.!any st#dies consistentlyshowed that care&iers e$periences hi&hleels o% an$iety and stress. In theiractiities and roles, care&ierse$perience considera(le (#rden, anddisr#ptiono% their ownwell2(ein&andsocial actiities and they are at risk %oremotional, mental and physical healthpro(lems.=ain& a child with mentalretardation has an ineita(le stressamon& the parents. "wo st#dies showedthat mothers o% mentally retardedchildren are e$periencin& hi&her mentalstress than physical stress )!a.#ndar, DaSila, C Aernandes, 788scondition, one st#dy showed stron&ne&atie %eelin&s and reactionse$perienced(ythe&ro#po%parentso%children with ,#tism )5o#rko#tas,Lan&her,Caldin,C Ao#nto#laki,7807+,where in %act, they descri(ed it as a Hli%e2alterin& eentI ),ltiere, 788;+. Denialsta&e will start (#t then a%ter some time,acceptance towards the child>s conditioncan make themrealiBe the e%%ectie%actors in keepin& and ed#catin& thechild. Aindin&s %romdi%%erent st#diesshowed the positie and ne&atieimpactsor conse-#enceso% &iin& careto the people with disa(ilities, and howthey cope with their e$periences. Inthese st#dies, it was reealedthat thecare&iers> physical and emotionalconditions are &reatly in%l#enced (y theire$periences in care&iin&, and that thesemay (e a (#rden andEor (ene%icial. In a reiew made (y Jee CSch#lB )7888+, carin& %or an elderlyindiid#al with disa(ility is (#rdensomeandstress%#l tomany%amilymem(ers.3ne st#dy showed that parents who aretakin&careorapersonwhoact asthecare&ier o% childrenwhoare(lindorwith disa(ility are s#%%erin& %rom mentalstress )AathiBadeh, 7807+. Inareiew,onest#dyalsoshowedthat parents o%childrenwitha#tismspectr#mdisorderhaehi&hleel o%parentin&stressandclinical dist#r(ances in theirpsycholo&ical well2(ein&, ),hmad,Nikmat, 3on, C 'aBali, 788G+ ande$perience hi&her leels o% ne&atieemotional state )stress%#l eents+, andphysical state )s#ch as e$tremeweariness andhi&hworkdemands+ intheir daily lies as compared to motherswith normal children )Smith, Jink#k,SeltBer, et. al., 788:+. 3n the other hand,the parental stress e$perienced in takin&care o% children with deelopmentaldisa(ilities is si&ni%icantly related to%amily reso#rces (#t can (e red#ced (yal#in& and considerin& social and%amily s#pport and serices )Jones CPasey, 788@/ 4o#smett, 788;+. Aormothers o% children with speci%iclearnin&disa(ilities, onest#dyshowedthey hae si&ni%icantly poorpsycholo&ical health and socialrelationships )5arande C 5#lkarni,788:+. Aor parents o% children withphysical disa(ilities, %indin&s %rom ast#dy showed that the dependent(ehaior andthe immo(ilityo% yo#n&children with physical disa(ilities canrisktheparentso% hain&poor mentalhealthd#etolow%inancialincomeandlacko% reli&io#s (elie%s )=#n&, et. al,7808+.Incontrast, ast#dyshowedthatcare&iers contin#e to (e ided (yal#es rooted in traditional Natiesocieties where all children wereconsidered &i%ts o% the Creator)Clo#ston, 788*+. "hecare&iers(asedtheircare&iin&ontheircoreal#estotreat patients e-#ally, and not lessworthy. In relationship with spo#ses,res#lts %rom a st#dy s#&&est that carin&%oradisa(ledspo#seis, on(alance, astress%#l e$perience with dama&in&conse-#ences. =oweer, care&iers mayderie some mental health (ene%its %romhelpin&aspo#seinneed)Beach, etal.7888+. In the reiewo% research ondementia care&iers, it was indicatedthat there are di%%erences in theperceied satis%action o% care&iers whowere spo#ses o% the care recipientcompared with those who were childreno%thecarerecipient)Saa&eCBailey,788@+., st#dy on the content andconse-#ences o% %amily care&iin&s#(stantiated the %ormation o% (#rden asthe conse-#ence o% dealin& withdisr#ptie (ehaiors and constantlyproidin& instr#mental and emotionalassistance)'einhardC =orwitB,0::Brien, 7880+. In US,, one st#dyshowedthat (lackcare&iers appraisedpatient pro(lems as less stress%#l and hashi&her sel%2e%%icacy in mana&in&pro(lems than white care&iers. "heyalso di%%ered si&ni%icantly in copin&responses (#t not in social s#pports)=aley et. al., 7807+. It shows thatstressors and race do not a%%ect well2(ein& thro#&h direct paths, (#t weremediated (y e%%ects %or appraisal, socials#pport andactiity, andcopin&. Inast#dya(o#t care&iin&, %indin&s showthat men and women are e-#allycompetent to proide all %orms o% care toa&in&parentsorpatientsascare&iers."hey accept this as their d#ties thatmirror the diision o% their la(or inaspects o% %amily li%e )Sch#macher,7808+."he emotional perspectie o% theresearchers towards the e$perience o% theparticipants is di%%erent %rom theperspectie o% the participants. In&atherin& data, the researchersemotionally and socially adapt to thecare&iers to o(tain the tr#e meanin& o%their li%e e$periences %rom thecare&iers. D#e to limited reso#rces oncare&iin&, most local st#dies showedthat the most care&iers are %amilymem(ers o% the patients instead o%sendin& these patients to reha(ilitation.InthePhilippines, carin&is aninnate attit#de o% the Ailipinos. B#tcarin& is only e$pressed within theprimarys#pport &ro#plike%amilyand%riends ),Lon#eo, 788s E'4)E$istence, 'elatedness, and 4rowthneeds+ !odel s#its this st#dy since thistheory s#&&ests that people can (emotiated (y needs %rom more than oneleel at the same time. "here is notnecessarily a strict pro&ression %rom oneleel to the ne$t, #nlike !aslow>s=ierarchy o% needs. "he pro&ression#pward%romrelatednesssatis%actionto&rowth desires does not pres#me thesatis%action o% a personDs e$istenceneeds. Prioritieschan&eandit dependsentirely #pon the person andEor thesit#ation. ?ithre&ards tothest#dy, ithelped the researchers in determinin& thechan&es in the personal lies o% thecare&iersasindiid#alsandhowtheyare a(le tocontin#e their lies inthecare&iin& world, thro#&h the needs theymet and the satis%action they &ot thro#&hproidin& care to the persons with mildmental retardation.MethodPhenomenolo&ical method o%research was #sed in this st#dy.It aimsto descri(e, #nderstand and interpret themeanin&s o% e$periences o% h#man li%e., total o% seen )*+ s#(.ects participatedinthis st#dy. Ao#r )@+ are mothers, a(rother, an#ncle, andananny, whosea&esare%rom0:2