Abstract
Objectives: We aimed to understand the psychological characteristics of elderly mothers attempting to decide on future living arrangements for their adult children with intellectual disabilities. This would help inform community care practice, thereby improving disabled children’s independence and parents’ quality of life.
Method: Subjects in this qualitative, inductive study were 6 mothers（aged 65–74 years）from a parents’ self-help group.
Results: All subjects experienced “the necessity of mother–child independence,” “mother–child emotional ties,” “anxiety about utilizing residential institutions,” “guilt related to children without disabilities,” “anxiety about children’s life skills,” and “feelings of security in belonging to a group.” Mothers who wanted to continue their children’s institutionalization（Type 1）experienced “feelings of security in moving towards mother–child independence” and “dissatisfaction with the relationships between institutions.” Mothers who intended to change from temporary to permanent institutionalization（Type 2）experienced “readiness of temporary institutionalization” and “anxiety related to life after permanent institutionalization.” Mothers who hesitated in deciding（Type 3）experienced “reluctance related to children’s institutionalization.” Mothers who relegated responsibility for the disabled children to the children’s siblings（Type 4）experienced “feelings of security” and “feasibility of resorting to children’s siblings.”
Conclusion: Our results imply that professionals respected mother–child emotional ties and managed facilities with consideration for disabled children’s ageing. Type 1 mothers required greater communication between institutions, institutionalized children, and themselves; type 2 mothers required advice to ease their anxieties; type 3 mothers required group discussions; and type 4 mothers had to better observe their non-disabled children.
