The Biopsychosocial Profile of Egyptian Children with Special Needs and Their Caregivers during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is one of the crises that had its drawbacks for all people and various aspects of their life activities. Especially, children with special needs and their caregivers who are in extreme need of attention in all health, psychological, and social fields. Therefore, this study explored the biopsychosocial profile of children with special needs and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The biopsychosocial model determined the pandemic’s effects regarding health follow-up, nutrition, learning, and psychological and social impacts. To screen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 120 Egyptian caregivers of children with special needs responded to an online questionnaire distributed through social media. According to the findings, children with special needs suffered from negative effects in all health domains (physical, psychological, and social health) during the pandemic. The caregivers suffered from unavailability of health and rehabilitative services, disturbed social life, parental anxiety, and negative effects on income. The research findings showed that children with special needs and their caregivers did not escape from the drawbacks of the COVID-19 crisis.