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Why Do Families of Children with Disabilities Discontinue Using Rehabilitation Services? A Qualitative Study in Rural Mainland China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2024

Renxing Chen Open the ORCID record for Renxing Chen [Opens in a new window] ,
Zhongming Ge ,
Can Su ,
Weizhong Tang  and
Qian Zhang
Renxing Chen
Affiliation:
Center for Quality of Life and Public Policy, Shandong University; Department of Public Administration, School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
Zhongming Ge*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Can Su
Affiliation:
Hong Kong and Macao Studies Center, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai, China
Weizhong Tang
Affiliation:
Weizhong Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Jinan, China
Qian Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Shandong University, Jinan, China
*
Corresponding author: Zhongming Ge; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Rehabilitation services play a vital role in the quality of life for children with disabilities. China has established a system of rehabilitation services, in which eligible children with disabilities are entitled to free rehabilitation services at designated institutions. This study reveals, however, that some rural families decide to discontinue the free rehabilitation services. This study attempts to explore the reasons for their decision through qualitative methods. We find that the ideology of developmentalism with its emphasis on efficiency dominates policy actors’ thinking and actions. In a cultural discourse that prioritises utility and economic development, children with disabilities are regarded by policy implementers as a ‘non-priority’, by their service providers as an opportunity for profit, and by their parents as ‘futureless’. That these families discontinue using these free services seems to result from the policy attitudes mentioned above.

Keywords

Families of children with disabilitiesrehabilitation servicedevelopmentalismfamily practicerural mainland China
Type
Article
Information
Social Policy and Society , First View , pp. 1 - 13
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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