Views of parents regarding the services provided to the students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

This study adopted a descriptive survey method to investigate the views of parents on education and healthcare services provided to the children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and help them explain their views in their own words. The sample was composed of 25 parents of children diagnosed with ADHD, who were attending primary schools in Konya city center. A semi-structured interview form was used for parent interviews. The data were analysed through content analysis. The results revealed that according to the parents’ views, the service provided to the children mostly included either healthcare or education services, but a very little number of children received both services. The great majority of the families stated that the medicines that their children were prescribed increased their attention; however, negatively affected their social development. The parents expressed their opinion that a training programme for parents should be arranged and multimodal interventions should be provided.

Keywords: Education, healthcare, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder.