Availability and Use of Social Support among Parents of School Children with Disabilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Social support, as a crucial resource for parents of children with disabilities, is defined as assistance in form of human endeavour such as material gain, emotional maturity, specialized trends, and access to information and pieces of advice that parents of children with disabilities obtain from different institutions, associations or organizations. Researchers have mostly focused on educational needs of children with disabilities by partly ignoring parents’ needs. Therefore the purpose of this study was to explore parents and their children with disabilities, and teachers’ opinions on availability and use of social support among parents of school children with disabilities in Dar es Salaam Region. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used with cross - sectional as the design employed for this study. Thirty nine school children with disabilities purposively selected and thirty parents raising children with disabilities conveniently selected were interviewed whereas a questionnaire was administered to seventy eight teachers for special schools who were purposively selected. Two techniques used for data analysis included content and path analysis. The main findings showed that social support available and used by parents bringing up school children with disabilities included that of emotional, instrumental, appraisal and informational support. These types of social support were considered significant in education and in the daily care of children with disabilities. However, socio-economic status, cultural beliefs and proximity were the factors determining the use of available social aid. The study implies a need for raising awareness regarding provision of social buttressing among parents of such children