QUALITY OF LIFE OF MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Quality of life (QOL) is important in today''s society. By QOL، the people’s experience of life could be measured. Quality of life of mothers with children with special needs is the focus of this study. If QOL of mothers of children with special needs is low، the children’s mental and physical problems would be high. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of mothers of children with special needs about their quality of life. The study was done by interviewing. In this study، mothers of students attending schools in the Zanjan province were participated، and the selection was based on aim of the study، and the data was collected by using semi-structured interviews. Number of participants according to data saturation، was 13 mothers. The data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. In this study، the qualities of life of mothers of children with special needs were classified into eight themes. These themes include; overall dimensions of life satisfaction، psychological، economic، religious، family and friends، social، physical conditions، and life marital satisfaction. The quality of life of mothers of children with special needs (due to the problems of child) has a low level. Therefore، to reduce the negative aspects of at the lives of these mothers، counseling and therapy sessions is highly recommended.