The functioning of people with disabilities through the prism of the psychological condition of family members Cover Image

Funkcjonowanie osób z niepełnosprawnością przez pryzmat kondycji psychicznej członków rodziny
The functioning of people with disabilities through the prism of the psychological condition of family members

Author(s): Joanna Konarska
Subject(s): Applied Sociology, Family and social welfare, Welfare services
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: disability; chronic disease; family members; carers; quality of life; value system; rehabilitation progress;

Summary/Abstract: The article is based on fragments of the results of many years of research conducted under the direction of the au- thor, situated in the context of research on the family of people with disabilities and chronic diseases. The main trend of the research was to diagnose the psychological condition of people who have long-term care obligations for a family member by learning about the factors that create the quality of life, life satisfaction, the recognized system of values and its relationship with the health and mental state of the charges. In these studies, an interesting thread turned out to be the knowledge of the relationship between the rehabilitation progress of the charges, chang- es in their psyche, especially in self-esteem and in the value system, and analogous changes in the mentality of caregivers. The article presents such relationships not only among carers of people with disabilities, but also among able-bodied siblings, who, although not directly burdened with the care of a family member, indirectly feel the effects of a changed and unusual family situation, also incurring the psychological costs of this situation. This is a very im- portant problem in the context of holistic rehabilitation, and family members of people requiring constant care are not covered by any systemic therapeutic assistance. The examined relationships clearly indicate that both the re- habilitation progress of people with disabilities and the mental state of their family members are interdependent, and the rehabilitation process is not only carried out in di- rect relationship with professionals, but mainly in the fam- ily itself, and it is the family members who permanently create the conditions for motivating to overcome barriers related to disability. Therefore, their mental condition is of great importance for improving the functioning of a family member who requires care.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 67-87
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish