A Pilot Study on an ACT-Based Program for Individuals With Special Needs and Their Caregivers

Promoting Wellbeing and Personal Values: A Pilot Study on a Group-Based Program for Individuals With Special Needs and Their Caregivers

Parenting children with special health care needs can be stressful and weigh on the caregivers' mental health. For the individuals with special needs, the mismatch between their needs and the normative practice in the world around them can be frustrating and detrimental to their functioning. The demands and concerns to these families can be so real that it may not be sensible to examine the validity or helpfulness of the distressing thoughts or feelings but to promote psychological flexibility, which is a key to value-guided living. This pilot study explores the effects and feasibility of a group-based intervention for families of individuals with special health care needs.

Inclusion Criteria:

• be at or older than 18 years old
• understand Cantonese
• read as well as write Chinese

Exclusion Criteria:

• with borderline or greater intellectual deficits
• weak language abilities
• severe conditions related to mental, emotional, and/or behavioral functioning