Caregiving challenges, coping and resilience among immigrant parents caring for a child with disability: an integrated literature review

Aim This review aimed to synthesise available evidence on challenges in caring for a child with a disability among immigrant families; coping strategies employed by immigrant parents; and resiliency factors associated with their coping. Method A comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, Social work abstract, Cochrane library, and EMBASE (between 2000 and 2017) was conducted. A five-stage approach"”problem identification, literature search, data evaluation, data analysis and presentation"”was used to synthesise qualitative and quantitative results. Results Twenty-four studies were included in this review after quality appraisal. Major challenges of raising children with disabilities included language challenges, financial challenges, service utilisation challenges, adapt to a new culture, stigma surrounding mental illness, discrimination and social isolation. Major coping strategies used by immigrant parents were problem-focused coping, avoidance coping, spiritual coping, and seeking social support. One study suggested that high socioeconomic status, unconditional family support, speak English fluently, optimistic and flexible personalities were resiliency factors associated with parental coping. All literature explored parents' perspective, none of the literature explore the perspective of service providers. Less is known about the impact of resilience on immigrant parents' perception of caregiving burdens in raising children with disability and the resiliency factors associated with their coping. Conclusions The knowledge generated from this review improve understandings of challenges and coping methods of immigrant parents raising children with disability. The findings will guide the development of supportive services for the parents and future research.