Enhancing the Resilience of Parents of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities through Volunteering: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Abstract The resilience of parents of people with intellectual disability ( ID ) has increasingly become a concern in the field. However, very little research has focused on resilience interventions. In H ong K ong, the authors attempted to enhance the resilience level of parents of adults with ID through their participation in a volunteer program. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between participation in the volunteer program and the resilience protective factors of parents. A pretest–posttest design was used involving 36 of the participants who were recruited from the 6‐month volunteer program. A 24‐item R esilience M easuring S cale developed from the R esilience S cale and the P urpose in L ife T est was used to measure the changes in the participants after the intervention. The results showed that the participants achieved positive changes in the protective factors of social resources and meaning of life after joining the volunteer program. The findings provide initial evidence of the relationship between volunteering and the resilience protective factors for middle‐ to old‐aged C hinese parents. The factors of the program that facilitated resilience enhancement included using a group format, providing a situation to appreciate problems that others have, and frequent debriefings enabling integration and internalization of the experience. The authors posit some implications on the interventions for this population and make recommendations for further studies.