{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T17:26:07Z","timestamp":1780421167021,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,12]],"date-time":"2025-04-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744416000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Child"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Self\u2010help groups offer an approach to empowering the lives of caregivers and their children with disabilities in settings of limited resources and support. A study was conducted over a 5\u2010year period (2018\u201323) to assess the sustainability of 11 self\u2010help groups in Kilifi, Kenya, during which there was the COVID\u201019 pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>An integrated framework of action research and mixed methods was carried out over three stages. Stage 1: pre\u2010pandemic, three self\u2010help groups participated in focus group discussions. Template analysis structured around the five pillars of the WHO community\u2010based rehabilitation matrix (CBR: health, education, livelihood, social, empowerment) was carried out. Stage 2: inter\u2010pandemic, a bespoke questionnaire was administered to monitor each group. Descriptive statistics were reported (Questions 1\u20136) and the CBR template was applied to free\u2010field responses (Questions 7\u20138). Stage 3: post\u2010pandemic, a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire was administered to 21 caregivers of children with disabilities and a control group of 11 parents of typically developing children in the same geographical area and 8 caregivers pre\u2010 and post\u2010pandemic. Descriptive statistics were applied.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Pre\u2010pandemic, there was food security, medicine availability, school attendance, social connections and livelihood. Group plans involved livelihood and social inclusion developments. However, member commitment, community attitudes and environmental conditions were ongoing challenges. Inter\u2010pandemic, some socially distanced group meetings focus on COVID\u201019 prevention, livelihood and social support. Livelihood activities were affected variously with reported difficulties including food insecurity, school closures and reduced meeting frequency. Post\u2010pandemic comparison between caregivers and a control group revealed overall significantly higher caregiver QoL scores. Pre\u2010 to post\u2010pandemic evaluations demonstrated overall significantly improved caregiver QoL.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Despite the changing context brought by the COVID\u201019 pandemic, the self\u2010help groups appear to have afforded some protection against the worst psychosocial and economic effects and helped to sustain the caregivers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/cch.70079","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,12]],"date-time":"2025-04-12T09:07:46Z","timestamp":1744448866000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Sustainability of Self\u2010Help Groups for Caregivers of Children With Disabilities in Kilifi, Kenya: The Changing Context of the COVID\u201019 Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"51","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7396-9205","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"K.","family":"Bunning","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences University of East Anglia  Norwich UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1067-7096","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J.\u00a0K.","family":"Gona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Walezi Foundation Kenya  Malindi Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1422-0162","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S.\u00a0W.","family":"Wanjala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences Pwani University  Kilifi Kenya"},{"name":"Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ghent University  Ghent Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S.","family":"Hartley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences University of East Anglia  Norwich UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_12_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0242403"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41591\u2010020\u201000004\u20102"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913\u2010019\u20104822\u20106"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/19439342.2016.1206607"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14780887.2014.955224"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0182214"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0229851"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_9_1","unstructured":"Elwick H. 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