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April 15, 2026PLoS ONEOpen Access

“It Feels Like My Spine is About to Break”: Experience and support needs of family caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Ethiopia

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Authors

MMMelkitu MelakSMSolomon MekonnenAFAfolasade Fakolade

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Overview

An exploratory study reveals caregivers face significant emotional and practical challenges, indicating urgent support needs.

Key Points

  • The study explores the experiences and support needs of family caregivers for children with cerebral palsy in Ethiopia.
  • Exploratory descriptive qualitative design
  • Purposeful sampling of 13 family caregivers
  • Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews conducted in Amharic
  • Data analyzed using NVivo software and reflexive thematic analysis
  • Four main themes identified: emotional journey, daily caregiving demands, impact of caregiving, support systems
  • Caregiving negatively impacts caregivers' emotional, physical, and social well-being
  • Caregivers reported needs for financial aid, psychological support, and better access to healthcare and education for their children

Cite This Study

Melak et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69df2b85e4eeef8a2a6b0741https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346049
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