Parent-to-Parent support for underserved and marginalized parents
Author: James D. Lee
Author title: Department of Special Education, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Description: Parenting is often described as a rewarding yet demanding journey for many parents. Even under ideal circumstances and with appropriate support, new parents experience steep learning curves as they take on new roles, adapt to changing routines, and confront the emotional and physical demands of caregiving. While parenting any child can be an arduous lifelong journey and many new parents experience isolation, uncertainty, and self-doubt, parenting a child with disabilities, medical conditions, or other lifelong conditions often requires extra lift. For this reason, it is widely known that these parents especially experience psychological, economic, and social hardships, which lead to further adverse mental and physical outcomes (Resch et al., 2012). Parent-to-Parent (P2P) support offers new parents emotional, logistical and navigational support and is especially valuable for under-served communities.
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