Chronic diseases and illness in schools: Teachers’ confidence in helping students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Background: With movement to educate students with intellectual disabilities in special and mainstream schools, a considerable number of students with intellectual disabilities have common chronic diseases such as epilepsy and diabetes. In addition, these students may also face common illnesses, which occur in all students, such as fevers and headaches. Teachers are responsible for their students and provide first aid when needed. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether teachers are confident in their ability to provide help when symptoms related to chronic diseases and illnesses occur. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, questionnaires were sent to 300 male and female teachers of students with intellectual disabilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results: The findings illustrate that, in general, teachers have little confidence in helping students with chronic diseases and illnesses. Although the teachers felt that they were less confident in dealing with some symptoms of illnesses and chronic diseases, there were some symptoms that they showed either strong or low confidence in dealing with. Conclusion: The recommendations include increasing teachers’ confidence in providing first aid.