Health education needs of mentally retarded children, parents and teachers

Abstract

This study investigated the knowledge of parents and teachers regarding general health education aspects, their perception on the health education needs of mentally retarded children, health status of these children, and it also examined how much health aspects are included in the curriculum for the training and education of these children and special teachers. The sample consisted of 200 mentally retarded children, their parents and 100 special school teachers. The findings of the study revealed that parents had only moderate knowledge on general health aspects whereas teachers possessed good knowledge. Both parents and teachers favourably perceived the need for educating mentally retarded children on general health education aspects. No significant difference was observed between perception of parents and teachers. Children with mental retardation are found to have good health status even though majority of them are below the NCHS standards for height and weight. Content analysis of the curriculum for the education and training of mentally retarded children and for the special teacher training programmes revealed that the coverage of general health education aspects were inadequate. The results are discussed and the implications and suggestions for further research are also given.