Process by which fathers of children with severe mental and physical disabilities who require medical care create new lives at home

Abstract

 This study aimed to clarify the process by which fathers of children with severe mental and physical disabilities who need medical care create new lives at home. Nine fathers underwent semistructured interviews, and their responses were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Fathers felt “confusion regarding their new lives” and spent their time running around not knowing left from right and experiencing a strong feeling of burden while “feeling overwhelmed with what they are currently experiencing.” While relying on the mothers to raise the children, their “acquisition of self-confidence” of being able to deal with their children themselves turned into a sense of security that formed the foundation of their everyday lives. Furthermore, they demonstrated a “wider range of actions based on feeling less pressure” and started “searching for the right lifestyle for their own family.” These observations depicted the process in which the support of those around the fathers, and the fathers’ own convictions, became the strength to support them in going on living with their children, and as they got over numerous experiences, this support resulted in mental growth that enabled them to “accept things” and establish a life wherein the right pace has been created for their family.