Abstract:

This is a training intervention research which was planned in a quasi-experimental way, in order to determine the effectiveness of the training on “cope with stress and increasing life satisfaction” which was provided for the relatives of disabled people. Sample of research consists of the relatives (n=40) of disabled people under ongoing treatment at Disabled Children's Rehabilitation and Training Park Research and Application Center of a university and the relatives of disabled people who had been hospitalized with the diagnosis of spinal cord injury who agreed to participate in the study at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department of the same university. As the means of data collection, Information Form, Percieved Stress Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale were used. Research was continued in the form of a one-hour sessions as once a week for three weeks. And at the end of training, Percieved Stress Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale were implemented one more time. According to the findings of the research: 75% of the relatives of disabled people are women, 85% of these relatives are married, 82.5% of them are nonworkers and 45% are the mothers of disabled persons. In relation to the disabilities, participants stated that: 60% of people with disabilities are post facto disabled and 37.5% of them are disabled for 1-5 years. 15% of relatives of disabled people stated that they receive help for their mental health problems and 60% of relatives of disabled people stated that they are having burnout while helping the disabled person. As a result of the research, it was determined that stress levels of disabled people's relatives were decreased after training and their life satisfaction was increased. There was a positive correlation determined between stress scores and life satisfaction scores of participants, as pre-training and post-training.Disability is a condition that effects both disabled people and the relatives of disabled people psychologically. There might be said that the training to cope with stress and increasing the life satisfaction is effective for the relatives of people with disabilities and it should be implemented in different groups.

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