Treating emotional pains in parents of children with hearing impairment

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Sustainable well-being is an important global health issue. Unfortunately, the psychosocial well-being of children and adult populations with disabilities is being threatened in several ways in Nigeria. Consequently, they experience an increased risk of mental health conditions, but there are limited quantitative studies and few available mental health support for them and their caregivers. This study focused on the effect of the family health model in managing emotional pain in parents of children with hearing impairment in Nigeria. METHODS: This was implemented using a group randomized controlled design, and a sequence allocation method was used to assign 58 participants to the intervention group and 59 parents to the comparison group. Two measures were used to measure the participants' emotional pains and irrational beliefs at the pretest, post-test, and follow-up test. Participants in the treatment group were exposed to a 12-session intervention. RESULTS: The baseline test revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean scores of the participants in the treatment group and those in the waitlisted control group. The post-treatment test revealed a significant positive change in treatment group participants. The third assessment revealed that the significant improvement in participants in the treatment lasted over time. It was also shown that gender does not influence the outcome of treatment. CONCLUSION: The Rational Emotive Family Health model is an effective strategy in reducing and treating emotional pain in parents of children with hearing impairment. Based on the findings, recommendations were established. That awareness creation to inform people, especially young and older adults the importance of mood monitoring and regular medical assessments.