Abstract

AGUIAR, Mariana Pinheiro Pessoa de Andrade  and  MORAIS, Normanda Araujo de. Family Resilience Processes Experienced by Families with a Disabled Person. Rev. Subj. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.3, pp. 1-16. ISSN 2359-0769.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5020/23590777.rs.v21i3.e9191.

This article aims to comprehend resilience processes experienced by families with a disabled person. A transversal, qualitative, descriptive and explanatory research was made with five disabled people, and six of their relatives. Two of them presented a physical deficiency and the others presented intellectual, hearing and vision deficiencies. Regarding the relatives, there were three mothers participating, a wife and two fathers. Both were recruited by convenience and answered a semi-structured interview analyzed through content analysis. Two analysis categories emerged: the adversities experienced by people with deficiency and their relatives and the family resilience processes. Among the adversities mentioned by the participants are the impact due to the diagnosis, the change of roles in the family, and the need for adjustment to guarantee the well-being of the disabled person, added to the physical and attitudinal barriers experienced daily, aside from the need to escape the denial of the deficiency, besides the over protection. Despite the mentioned adversities, it was understood that the interviewed families used specific strategies and many times well succeeded in confronting adversities. It was possible to verify that the acceptance of the deficiency, as well as the interaction with peers contributed to the development of resilience processes. Finally, it was determined that family resilience constitutes a promising approach to research and intervention directed to people with deficiency and their families for it breaks the view of deficiency as a limitation and also projects light into its potentialities.

Keywords : family resilience; people with deficiencies; family; adversities.

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